Better, Not Perfect: A Realists Guide to Maximum Sustainable Goodness

by Max H. Bazerman

MP3 CD Format Negotiation and decision-making expert Max Bazerman explores how we can make more ethical choices by aspiring to be better, not perfect.

Every day, you make hundreds of decisions. They’re largely personal, but these choices have an ethical twinge as well; they value certain principles and ends over others. Bazerman argues that we can better balance both dimensions—and we needn’t seek perfection to make a real difference for ourselves and the world. Better, Not Perfect provides a deeply researched, prescriptive road map for how to maximize our pleasure and minimize pain. Bazerman shares a framework to be smarter and more efficient, honest and aware—to attain your “maximum sustainable goodness.” In Part Two, he identifies four training grounds to practice these newfound skills for outsized how you think about equality and your tribe(s); waste—from garbage to corporate excess; the way you spend time; and your approach to giving—whether your attention or your money. Ready to nudge yourself toward better, Part Three trains your eye on how to extend what you’ve learned and positively influence others. Melding philosophy and psychology as never before, this down-to-earth guide will help clarify your goals, assist you in doing more good with your limited time on the planet, and see greater satisfaction in the process.

Genres: Psychology, Business, Self Help, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Economics, Politics

1 pages, Audio CD

Published September 8, 2020

About the author

Max H. Bazerman is the Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and the Co-Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. Max's research focuses on decision making, negotiation, and ethics. He is the author, co-author, or co-editor of twenty books and over 200 research articles and chapters. His latest book, The Power of Noticing: What the Best Leader See, is now available from Simon and Schuster.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

4/10

It's not Bazerman's fault that this is a bad book, it's your fault. If you could only appreciate his originality and innovation, then this book could change your life.

Actually, hold up, it is Bazerman's fault that he read Thinking Fast and Slow, and immediately thought "Hey I should write a book about that related to altruism". So he did, and was surprised to hear people call it a rip off of a better book with very few original thoughts. I'm not really sure what Bazerman's point was, he vacillates between pure utilitarianism, and enjoyment motivated giving, ultimately advocating for a fake Goldilocks zone between the two that his friend called Maximum sustainable goodness. I don't name the friend because Bazerman didn't see the need to credit them. A good compromise leaves everyone unhappy, a bad one apparently leaves you bored and ready for lunch, because that's how I feel after slogging through this brief book.

[Chris Boutté · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Max’s books, and this one’s no exception. Max takes a look at how business leaders as well as ordinary folks like you and I can be better. Max leans on effective altruism, or as Josh Greene calls it “deep pragmatism” to discuss how we can do better in this world. What I love about this book is it aligns with my views on effective altruism, which is that we should always be mindful of what we’re doing and ask how we can maximize the good. We do this while also acknowledging we’ll never be perfect people, but we can all make better decisions and small changes in our lives to make this world just a little bit better a place for all living things.

[Niek · Rating 2 out of 5]

With broad strokes, and relying on insights from behavioral science, Bazerman discusses how we can add more value to society and our planet. I appreciate the central premise of this book, and I've always appreciated Bazerman's pragmatic approach. (His focus lies on descriptive rather than prescriptive behavior). And, if you've never read a book on behavioral science or effective altruism, I believe this book offers a quick and easy to read summary of what is out there. For more avid readers of this genre however, Bazerman offers few new insights. And yes, this is another book that includes the trolley problem, tragedy of the commons, prisoner's dilemma, drowning child. Hence the two stars.

[Vinod Narayan · Rating 4 out of 5]

On my Podcast

https://anchor.fm/penpositive/episode...

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not that great. I'd say 1/4 of the book was spent talking about company fraud by big business. The point was making that VW making their cars to be eco-friendly to pass emissions but were awful for the environment. Last 1/4 was pretty good.

[Lucas]

Bazerman does fine in an academic, measured approach to “good” that highlights clear and near obvious rationale for “goodness.” The blandness is a strength but I am perhaps a bit too turned off by it to be the best audience. At one point, he addresses a critic that calls the movement of effective altruism “hyper-rational,” fully endorsing the moniker implicitly in his response. I think there is space for criticisms like this that can deftly navigate effective altruisms general capacity to buffer all critique by its properness. While I largely am committed to the principles that are described in the book, I wonder if sometimes our once-removed, rational viewpoint is an insufficient lens. How is one meant to quantify the joy of a child’s smile and the creation of that smile? We’ll never know if our donations have no tangibility/too much distance.

All in all, a simple and calculated read with little to dig at - good intro to viewing giving and altruism as a sliding scale and one that can perhaps incentivize better behavior more broadly in those with the means and a propensity to making their "connection to giving" an explicit mental task. One question this book did not fully answer/could not answer is how to better encourage goodness in others and what inhibits goodness - it dances around the edges but does not do well in exploring concepts like trauma, cultural consumption patterns, and broader history behind why giving is a must in a world of near limitless bounty. Perhaps Bazerman could have better utilized his negotiation background to explore more effective outreach and broader incentives for giving.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Audio Book] Thought-provoking and inspirational.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not at all what I was expecting; it was so much better.

I have a love/hate relationship with self-help books. I love the idea of them, I just hate them in reality. This title caught my eye and I thought "Wait, I'm a realist. I can do this one!" And guess what? I actually could. Mainly because it is less of a self-help book and more of a guidebook to life for psych nerds. Written by a business professor, the book is deeply rooted in ethics while also dabbling in philosophy and psychology. The main focus of the book is to achieve (or at least gravitate toward) maximum sustainable goodness; being better, not perfect. Topics discussed throughout the journey in include: implicit biases, behavioral decision making, utilitarianism, intent, waste, philanthropy, altruism, and so so SO much more.

I don't often highlight ebooks because I find it tedious and rarely return to read the highlighted sections. I highlighted the crap out of this one though, because 1) That is just how I learn and there were a lot of topics in here that I truly wanted to keep exploring and 2) I know I will open it again, to continue my journey toward MSG. As far as that is concerned, I am taking the author's advice to focus on being better next year than I was last and take it from there. Better, not perfect (I plan to chant this during all waking hours until it becomes second nature).

It was an incredibly interesting read that taught me so much more than I usually take away from a book. Much gratitude to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Caveat: I would consider myself a deontologist. This is relevant later.

I had high hopes going in. This book went from four stars to two by the end. The opening premise, how to progress on a continuum of improvement instead of vainly striving for perfection out of the gate, hooked me. Specifically, I was thinking in terms of politics and and bias.

But that's not what this book is. This book is what happens when you let an economist read an ethics book. They get to Mill and Bentham, read the word "value," and stop thinking critically from that point on. His dismissive tone of deontology (and any other school of ethics, few or any of which get any mention) speaks to a fundamental misunderstanding. Everything is utilitarian and that is the ultimate expression of prescriptive ethics.

Not only does the book talk about the subjects I wanted to hear about, it goes deep into only the topics that Bazerman wants to talk about from on top of his soap box. Be vegan. Donate your money as analytically as possible. These may not be fundamentally bad things, but I felt lectured.

[Jared Marcell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main takeaway for me is summarized well in the conclusion of the book (I mean... that's what a conclusion is for):
"[...] it is useful to think about what level of change is viable and sustainable. More broadly, the best way to influence others is to think about their mindset rather than focus on an unobtainable ideal state."

I'm not sure what I expected when I was delving into this book, but I found Bazerman's insistence on talking about animal suffering to be almost preachy and overwrought.
I'm all about centrist policy decisions that maximize value, and I agree with Bazerman that the path toward that aim is through some flavor of Utilitarianism. I just don't know that I'm convinced that "across all sentient beings" is as important to me as it is to Bazerman and other Utilitarian thinkers out there. I'm not entirely convinced that cows, chickens, and pigs have an "inner life" where they contemplate their own existence beyond the present moment.

That's not to say that I disagreed with everything in the book. There were other points he made that clearly demonstrated that artificial protein production is not only the way of the future but also creates the most value for society. Reduction of animal suffering just seems like a bonus; I think reasons that center around decreased climate impact, increased production capacity, and deflationary economic impacts generate more value for humankind - a goal more important to me than the reduction of animal suffering.

But, again, what we're aiming for here is Better - Not Perfect. So I think Bazerman would accept ultimately that I agree with the endpoint we've achieved there even if the means of getting to that point aren't the same.

Anyway. The majority of this book was incredibly dry, but I still got a lot out of it.
I had a bit of a revelation when he was talking about auctions being an inefficient market mechanism.
Innately, I understood this to a degree. Whenever I post things on eBay, I always consider a base rate at which I'll be satisfied to set as a reserve and list all of my items for auction. However, the idea that the winning bid at any given auction always belongs to the biggest fool in the room was an eye-opener for me. By definition, the winning bidder is the person who places the highest value on a given item; thus, it's impossible for that winning bidder to liquidate his purchase for anything but a loss among his fellow auction participants if he feels any hint of buyers' remorse.
With this in mind, I found the section on bidding wars between municipal entities to attract private businesses to be both eye-opening and disgusting. What a waste...

The biggest takeaway for me to apply to my personal life is the value-maximizing date options concept discussed early on. Rather than an "A/B, choose C; D/E, choose F," I think the idea of weighing preferences and maximizing our decisions based on the strength of those preferences is a wonderful path moving forward.
I was glad to see that there was some consideration put into the emotional weight of decision making processes here, at least in some part of the book. I think there was an attempt to show readers how to reach a lot of creative conclusions here, but the emphasis on "system 2" rational thinking almost threatened to kill some of the joie de vivre it was attempting to inspire.

[Ann Straight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this would be a help self book. It is actually a philosophy, ethic, help world book. It's title is accurate but my eyes flew open several times. My generation rarely gives more than 10% to charity I think, except as a final gift. I check charities before donating for administrative costs. I try not to waste animal sourced food and I try to recycle and buy local. Lots of room for improvement in my corner of the world. I certainly fail to sing in the choir.

The book covers political concepts as well. Creating value internationally was a concept that I wondered about and the author explained well. His view of the former President, DJ Trump aligned with mine on negotiations, as well as other issues. I sing in the choir here, but don't think I add value to the author's examples.

My 72 year old Republican brother would call this book "bull sh-t". I lean left and consider left a legitimate part of the conversation. Three stars since it has a very tight audience I think.

[Will Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was disappointing. The synopsis suggested an analytically rigorous framework for improving decision making but in reality it was a meandering pseudo lesson with few new insights and a surprising amount of politics. The author attempts to build on Tversky and Kahneman’s seminal “Thinking Fast and Slow” but you’d be better off re-reading that instead of investing time here. The politics lean left (but not hard left) and play a bigger role in the book than advertised.

[John Crippen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy to fold this into the mix of improvement books. The concept in the title is great, although the subtitle should have been "A Realistic Society's Guide to ..." After starting off strong with some great individual-level material, much of the book was about governments, corporations, charities, universities, and other organizations. That said, I'm definitely going to back and read his works on negotiation and decision-making.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book’s ideas are very surface level, and mostly focus on broad categories (politics, business, charity, universities, etc.). It has less to do with the individual and more to do with systems in society. On top of that, it’s just another Trump-bashing book - I don’t like him either, but come on! Could you give one negative political example that doesn’t involve him…Lord knows both sides offer plenty of material. I learned very little and found this book disappointing, plain and simple.

[Keith Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half was a little didactic but I really enjoyed the second half of the book that focused on effective altruism which is a pretty interesting topic. I always enjoy Max and his focus on value creation - in this book it’s more focused on value creation personally and for the world versus business.

[Garrett Casper LaVeaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of heart is in this book. If you're looking to walk away with easy steps and action items, you're in the wrong place. However, instead, you are given a collection of anecdotes and lovely ideals to apply to your daily moments. It's a book about practice and improving, just as you might read from the title. I won't return to this book but I'm glad I read it

[Bob Martens · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly, I was looking for a lot more from this book. It is definitely filled with examples that lean only to one side, and leaves a lot to be desired as far as comprehensiveness. Will not be listening to again, even if there are some relatively interesting ideas layered underneath things that usually are not as interesting.

[Tonya Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tickled some deep recesses of thought and offered a percentile increase of improvement in all that we do while touching on some ironic societal and environmental ills unyielding from controversy or conspiracy all the while. All is not what we think- our thinking alike!

[Mrs C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not what I thought it would be. The writing is more academic-oriented. This book talks about ethics and is thought-provoking.

Thank you to the publisher for the advance copy.

[Sofiya]

I like Doing Good Better by William more.

Focuses a lot on utilitarianism and Effective Altruism.

[Daisy (Natasha) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep, no wonder Bazerman is that high up in Harvard. A great read, particularly for those looking to be more systematic in their thinking, giving and living.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great insights on altruism. Very heavy on the real life examples

[Elizabeth Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Audio Book] Thought-provoking and inspirational.

[Xq Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

做决策是常有的事，但认知差异会带来不同的结果，是功利主义、还是利他主义，无所谓褒贬，极不简单。如何避开心理障碍，作出为自己和社会创造更大价值的决策是本书作者关注的重点。
不少人作决策时为了体现自己的领导力，要去改变他人的思想和行为，这实际上是困难的，甚至是不可能的，因此容忍不同价值观的，不统一思想，在行为上达到目的就已经很有意义了，这是一种功利主义的表现，在哲学和心理学两方面达成了共识。
决策的时候会遇到“电车难题”，这实际上也是道德难题，但其决策却彰显功利主义的价值，这时的功利主义是积极的，由此导出决策时候道德因素的决定意义。道德因素体现了人的认知水平，而如何提高人的认知水平，克制偏见，本书也多有叙及，值得参考。
决策的结果在给自己带来价值的同时，也会给别人带去价值，这种平衡难于把控，正如囚徒困境所描绘的那样，实际上，有意义的结果恰恰不是人人都向往的合作，而是所谓的以牙还牙的方式。
市场和竞争本有着创造财富的巨大力量，但其中蕴藏的腐败却不得不由政府和法治严格监管，这实际上提出了一个人间的道德权威问题，而如果政府腐败，那这个国家就会最终走向贫穷。对任何组织来说也存在同样的问题，其本质就是诚信问题。对个体来说，更是异常艰难，于是时刻提醒自己，做任何决策的时候，都要想方设法去独立取得数据，而不只限于现有的、标准规范的数据。
世界不完美，决策也不可能完美，因此要获得较好的结果则需要清楚哪些是影响决策的最重要因素，然后努力去消除它们，本书作者关注到四个相关的策略。
第一个是部落主义，这是人与人之间不平等或歧视带来的影响，而且很多不平等都是自然发生的，有其历史原因，甚至生物进化的原因。所谓理性都是后来加到人身上的，并不符合生物进化的原理，但这是消除部落主义的法宝。
第二个就是浪费的问题，创造价值与减少浪费本质上是一致的，但是平等竞争，在提供平等机会的同时，却会带来了新的大量浪费也是无疑的。为什么要成立欧共体，事实上就是为了减少竞争所带来的不必要浪费，当今世界的秩序越来越倾向于减少不必要的竞争。
第三个是关于时间的利用，时间管理是一个日常决策常受干扰的项目，人往往应急，不善于拒绝，大量的时间浪费在无价值的事上，甚至连快乐的时间都没有。解决此问题的关键是明确自己的目标是什么，这实际也决定了决策关注的核心问题，这比做事要难得多。
第四个是决策中如何实践利他主义的问题，捐赠是利他主义是突出的表现，但是做到有效却并不容易，多少捐赠被浪费了，又有多少并没有做到有效，可能解决了一时之需，但却无法做到长远。不过坚定不移地做慈善则一定会有好结果，不仅对受捐者，也对捐赠者本人。
做到决策效果最佳是需要对决策相关事项彻底掌握，这本身很难，有时不得不进行了试错，这就是做好的代价，不为过。由于认知的缺失所导致决策无效依然存在，因此为了做好决策，需要做大量的工作。除了激励和指导，更多的还是要改变决策环境，以真正提供助推的手段，而决策者本人始终都应明白为达目标决策不求完美，但一定要进步，这是最根本的。

[Ryceejo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting more of a micro training, but this book was more about how to add value at a macro level. How to make society better, not perfect, overall. Great ideas, but I’m not the target audience. The negotiator/economist author also heavily favored logic, system two, over intuition, system one. Compelling reasons for why, but as a 30-something work from home mom, I didn’t get what I could take from this book to my life. It is probably a remarkable book for some demographic, but as a lay man I found it overall inaccessible.