• April 19, 2023
• Editorial

Do you ever feel like everyone on social media has a more extreme viewpoint than your own? We often blame social media companies for the cacophony of politically extreme opinions around us. After all, these companies are generally motivated to promote the most emotionally potent and attention-grabbing content and perspectives. But my colleagues and I have conducted research that suggests these platforms’ users share some of the responsibility. In several studies, we found that people prefer connecting with others who are, on average, more politically extreme than themselves.

• April 2023
• Case

From an open-concept 90’s-style stone and wood cabin in Dublin, New Hampshire, Ryan Serhant reflected on his career as a real estate broker. As Ryan stared into the fireplace that featured prominently in the center of the house, he wondered whether the period of selling real estate at record highs in New York was over. A few short months earlier, the United States had begun to shut down to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus. New York City was unsure of its future under this newly defined threat. New York also faced a real estate crisis, as loyal residents started to leave the city in search of more space and distance from other people. Many experts feared that New York City real estate was “in a worse state than after September 11th and the 2008 financial crises. Students step into Ryan’s shoes as he faced a decision in March 2020 at the height of Covid-19: Should he stay at his current real estate brokerage, launch his own brokerage in a pandemic, or enjoy the flexibility to start new ventures and spend time with family? As part of the discussion, students reflect on Ryan’s time management techniques including the 1,000-minute rule, Task Triage and Finder, Keeper, Doer methodologies, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of these various time and prioritization strategies.

• 2023
• Case

This case study centers on Harvard’s Program on Negotiation 2022 Great Negotiator, Christiana Figueres, and her efforts as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to build momentum for, and ultimately pass, the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. As UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres was tasked with a seemingly insurmountable challenge of putting together an impactful, global climate agreement. Coming out of the dramatic failure of the Copenhagen summit five years before, many believed that such an agreement was not possible. However, with persistent optimism and careful, targeted interventions aimed at building momentum, in 2015 the Paris Agreement was adopted by the 196 participating nations and set forth a new global consensus framework for international climate action. Figueres had to personally undergo a transformation to let go of her identity as a Costa Rican diplomat so she could approach the negotiations from a global perspective and meet each participating nation from their perspective. The negotiation process itself was not just the two-week conference in Paris but instead was a years-long series of actions “away from the table" taken by Figueres and others to help enhance the probability of a successful outcome at the negotiating table. These actions included coalition building discussions with private industry and civil society groups, like-minded nations, in which small teams of strategic influencers worked with partners behind the scenes to build support for an ambitious outcome. By bringing different coalitions of countries and non-state actors together to lead the way, a more expansive agreement became possible.