Complicit argues that leaders need to avoid complicity, and to create cultures that discourage complicity. In each major story of a scandal that we read, there was a supporting cast of complicitors: business partners, employees, investors, news organizations, and others. And, whether we’re aware of it or not, almost all of us have been complicit in the unethical behavior of others. In Complicit, Harvard Business School professor Max Bazerman confronts our complicity head-on and offers strategies for recognizing and avoiding the psychological and other traps that lead us to ignore, condone, or actively support wrongdoing in our businesses, organizations, communities, politics, and more.

This talk is part of the FASPE Conference. Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) provides a unique historical lens to study contemporary ethics in the professions. FASPE offers fellowships to students pursuing professional degrees in business, journalism, law, medicine, seminary, and design & technology, as well as to early-career professionals in these fields. Fellows in each of FASPE’s six programs spend two intensive weeks in Germany and Poland, visiting Auschwitz and key historical sites in Berlin and Krakow, and participating in rigorous seminars led by experts in their respective fields. Fellows begin their studies by examining the roles their professional counterparts played in Germany and elsewhere from 1933-1945, and then draw on historical, cultural, philosophical, literary and discipline-specific sources to explore the ethical issues facing their fields today.

FASPE also provides shorter programs to mid-career professionals that integrate history and contemporary ethical issues. These include tailored onsite ethics training at corporations, law firms and other professional settings, as well as a condensed version of the program in Europe in which the FASPE fellows participate.