The neuroscience-backed guide to making tough decisions in a complex world.

RADICAL DOUBT:
The Secrets to Choosing Wisely
by Dr. Bidhan (Bobby) Parmar
Diversion Books, Summer 2025
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

Everywhere from school to work we’re focused on “getting the right answer”. But as we take on more complex tasks in leadership and management, we’re faced with ever more uncertainty about what the “right answer” looks like. There are competing priorities, ethics, and values, and conflicting interpretations. Applying the simple frameworks most decision-making books tout just doesn’t work.

Dr. Parmar has spent his entire career researching these types of problems – the ones that cause dread, anxiety, and panic – bringing together a mix of neuroscience, cognitive psychology and moral philosophy (ethics), to turn doubt from an Achilles Heel into a superpower. It’s what separates the captain from the four-star general, the middle manager from the CEO, and by the end of the book you’ll have the blueprint to go from cold sweats to confidence in the face of doubt.

Dr. Parmar is the Shannon G. Smith Bicentennial Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He was named one of the top 40 business school professors under 40 in the world and has won several awards for his teaching and research. Parmar’s scholarship has been published in leading journals such as Organization Science, Psychological Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Organization Studies, Business & Society, and the Journal of Business Ethics. He has co-authored two academic books on stakeholder theory. He is a fellow at the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics and the Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University.