Perfectly Confident
by Don A. Moore
Mentioned once across 1 show · first heard Jul 2025 on Hidden Brain.
The general take
Max Bazerman praises Don Moore's book Perfectly Confident, calling Moore the world's expert on appropriate confidence. According to Bazerman, Moore's main finding is that people actually underestimate their confidence in areas where they're less competent—the opposite of what many assume.
About
An expert on the psychology of decision making at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business helps readers calibrate their confidence, arguing that some confidence is good, but overconfidence can hinder growth. A surge of confidence can feel fantastic―offering a rush of energy, even a dazzling vision of the future. It can give us courage and bolster our determination when facing adversity. But if that self-assurance leads us to pursue impossible goals, it can waste time, money, and energy. Self-help books and motivational speakers tell us that the more confident we are, the better. But this way of thinking can lead to enormous trouble. Decades of research demonstrates that we often have an over-inflated sense of self and are rarely as good as we believe.
Who said what
- MB
Max Bazerman👍 Recommends
…discussing overconfidence and underconfidence in negotiation and decision-making
“My excellent colleague at the Haas School at Berkeley, Don Moore, I think of as the world's expert on appropriate confidence. And he wrote a book called Perfectly Confident. What Don finds is that when people are in domains where they lack competence, they are even less confident than they should be.”
Hidden Brain — You 2.0: Change Your Story, Change Your Lifeat 15:43:30
Listener reviews
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