Logo
James C. Zimring Headshot
Report a problem with this profile
[email protected]

James C. Zimring    

Expert on Critical Thinking & Problem Solving by Individuals and Groups

James C. Zimring is currently a full professor with tenure at the University of Virginia where he holds the Thomas W. Tillack chair. He has an MD and a PhD, both awarded from Emory University. Dr. Zimring teaches coursework and publishes scholarly work on how groups of individuals can be structured to maximize problem solving abilities through optimization of group diversity, communication structure, and the correct balance of trust and skepticism.

Dr. Zimring publishes broadly on dynamics of problem solving, including academic texts (Partial Truths, Columbia University Press), popular print and online periodicals (such as Scientific American and Salon.com), and podcasts (such as Clear and Vivid with Alan Alda). Dr. Zimring is a highly experienced, engaging, and talented public speaker to both professional and social audiences blending detail-based information with humor and dynamic audience engagement.

Speech Topics

Beyond Just Fairness – How to Structure Diversity to Result in Superior Outcomes

Arguments for diversity are often supported by basic principles of fairness, reflected by its combination with the terms “equity and inclusion”. However, there is an additional justification for diversity unrelated to fairness. Substantial research has shown that diverse groups of people, thinking together, achieve superior results to more homogenous groups – if (and only if) the groups are assembled with a number of essential additional characteristics and avoid several properties. This talk explores these issues including how to justify diversity from this standpoint using scientific data, how to implement diversity to achieve an optimal result, and how to avoid common pitfalls that can sabotage the process.

Mistakes we make, why we are oblivious to why we make them, and how to learn to recognize and avoid them.

As clever as humans can be we clearly make mistakes in managing the world around us, and at times, disastrously so. These patterns manifest both in our personal lives and our professional performance, both as individuals and in groups. However, the mistakes have two essential properties. First, there are patterns to the mistakes. Second, we are naturally blind to the patterns. The last 50 years of research into cognitive psychology and behavioral economics has uncovered how, when, and why humans (as individuals and groups) tend to get things wrong, over and over again, without learning from their mistakes. Consider the difficulty of using a human brain to notice the mistakes that human brains don’t notice. This talk explores how to learn to recognize the mistakes we make and to break the cycle of repeating them, including issues of corporate management.

Related Speakers View all

More like James