HBR Press Webinar: The Age of Outrage

We are in a time of unprecedented societal division, where anger is widespread and tempers are fragile. In his latest book, , , Karthik Ramanna—professor of business and public policy at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government and a former Marvin Bower Fellow at Harvard Business School—proposes a new approach to managing seemingly persistent stakeholder conflict.

On November 26, Ramanna will help us make sense of this Age of Outrage, which he attributes to three main factors:

• A Fear of the Future caused by disruptive technology, climate change, and demographic shifts.
• A perception of being dealt a Raw Deal by those in power on issues like globalization, immigration, and taxation of the wealthy.
• An increasing Sense of Othering, where more individuals see the world in "us versus them" terms.

Despite these divisive forces, he maintains that leaders can still maintain cohesion and make a positive impact.

Drawing upon expertise from aggression science, managerial economics, organizational behavior, and political philosophy – and using the methodology he developed for his Oxford program, which has trained over 1,000 leaders from more than 120 countries – Ramanna provides a five-part framework to help leaders address crises:

• “Turning down the temperature”: Establishing an environment conducive to calm discussion.
• “Making sense of the moment”: Creating a listening culture to understand the sources of and catalysts to specific conflicts.
• “Scoping the response”: Evaluating the organization’s capabilities and constraints, including moral responsibilities and pragmatic necessities, and developing a plan of action.
• “Understanding the leader’s power”: Implementing the plan through decentralized action after doing a careful power mapping of the situation.
• “Building organizational and personal resilience”: Embracing practices that allow for organizational and personal renewal amidst difficult decision-making, including the capacity to learn from failure.

Join us to discover how to steer through today’s challenging social dynamics.

“A must-read for those looking to lead effectively in an era where outrage seems omnipresent.” —Sir Sajid Javid, former Chancellor of the Exchequer

“Reading The Age of Outrage, one wonders how many communications calamities might have been avoided with the benefit of these insights...Not taking sides, Ramanna helps leaders in both the private and public sectors understand the instability of this moment—and act accordingly.” —David Rhodes, Executive Chairman, Sky News Group

is a professor of business and public policy at University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, where he has served as director of one of the world’s most diverse leadership programs. Previously a professor at Harvard Business School, Professor Ramanna studies how organizations and leaders build trust with stakeholders. His scholarship has won numerous awards including the Harvard Business Review-McKinsey Prize for “groundbreaking management thinking.”

Register to confirm your place. You will receive the online link to the event in your confirmation email. This event is recorded and you will receive a link to watch in your own time if you can’t join live.

The event is free to HBR subscribers and followers. Click to learn more about HBR and how to subscribe.

UK residents can also purchase a copy of at the discounted price of £22.00 by choosing the webinar + book ticket option.

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