Margaret Heffernan argues that the biggest threats and dangers we
face are the ones we don't see--not because they're secret or invisible,
but because we're willfully blind. A distinguished businesswoman and
writer, she examines the phenomenon and traces its imprint in our
private and working lives, and within governments and organizations, and
asks: What makes us prefer ignorance? What are we so afraid of? Why do
some people see more than others? And how can we change?
Covering
everything from our choice of mates to the SEC, Bernard Madoff's
investors, the embers of BP's refinery, the military in Afghanistan, and
the dog-eat-dog world of subprime mortgage lenders, this provocative
book demonstrates how failing to see--or admit to ourselves or our
colleagues--the issues and problems in plain sight can ruin private
lives and bring down corporations. Heffernan explains how willful
blindness develops before exploring ways that institutions and
individuals can combat it. In the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell and
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Margaret Heffernan's Willful Blindness is a tour de force on human behavior that will open your eyes.
