Dare to Think Differently: How Open-Mindedness Creates Exceptional Decision-Making

A Harvard Business School professor reveals how the world’s best decision-makers think, not just what they decide.

Most advice on decision-making answers the wrong question. It tells you what to do, when the real edge comes from learning how to think about what you’re doing. In Dare to Think Differently, Gerald Zaltman, whose research into the unconscious mind is used by companies worldwide, draws on hundreds of in-depth interviews with senior leaders to uncover the unconscious mental habits that separate exceptional decision-makers from the rest.

As AI makes answers instant and abundant, judgment is what gives humans an edge. Zaltman shows readers how to build that edge through six research-based techniques for tapping the creative power of the unconscious: serious playfulness, befriending ignorance, asking the right discovery questions, chasing your curiosity, panoramic thinking, and the “voyager outlook.”

Each chapter opens with a hands-on thinking exercise, mirroring the practice Zaltman developed for his Harvard Business School courses, designed to surface the hidden biases that quietly constrict your thinking. The result is a practical, science-backed framework for becoming a more open-minded, adaptable thinker in a world that increasingly rewards exactly that.

Who should read this book?

Executives & Managers: A clear set of questions for auditing any decision or action before you commit to it.

Students & Early-Career Professionals: How the most successful decision-makers actually approach their biggest challenges.

Anyone navigating the AI era: The metacognitive skills that keep your judgment, not just your knowledge, relevant as AI handles the routine answers.

In a world of abundant information and instant AI-generated answers, judgment has overtaken information-finding as the most valuable skill. Dare to Think Differently is a guide to building exactly that judgment, one unconscious insight at a time.