Ideas worth spreading

How to let go of being a "good" person -- and become a better person

4,912,151 views | Dolly Chugh • TED@BCG Toronto

What if your attachment to being a "good" person is holding you back from actually becoming a better person? In this accessible talk, social psychologist Dolly Chugh explains the puzzling psychology of ethical behavior -- like why it's hard to spot your biases and acknowledge mistakes -- and shows how the path to becoming better starts with owning your mistakes. "In every other part of our lives, we give ourselves room to grow -- except in this one, where it matters most," Chugh says.

What if your attachment to being a "good" person is holding you back from actually becoming a better person? In this accessible talk, social psychologist Dolly Chugh explains the puzzling psychology of ethical behavior -- like why it's hard to spot your biases and acknowledge mistakes -- and shows how the path to becoming better starts with owning your mistakes. "In every other part of our lives, we give ourselves room to grow -- except in this one, where it matters most," Chugh says.

This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with BCG. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about the TED Institute.

About the speaker

Author, social psychologist

See speaker profile

Dolly Chugh is a social scientist of who studies the psychology of good people.

Dolly Chugh | HarperBusiness, 2018 | Book

The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias

My first book is about the psychology of good people (like you and me). In it, you will find stories that inspire and science that informs, with plenty to reflect on and even more to act on.

Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald | Bantam, 2016 | Book

Blind Spot: The Hidden Biases of Good People

This book is written by the world's foremost experts on unconscious bias. It provides the most comprehensive overview of the science, theory and measurement of unconscious bias.

Max Bazerman and Ann Tenbrunsel | Princeton University Press, 2012 | Book

Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What's Right and What to Do About It

This book provides real-world examples that make the science come to life, straight from two of the world's leading behavioral ethics researchers.

Daniel Kahneman | Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013 | Book

Thinking Fast and Slow

This bestselling book by the Nobel Prize winner shows all the ways in which the shortcuts our brains rely on can sometimes lead us astray. A great resource for those interested in the ways in which our mind operates on auto-pilot.

New York Times, 2016 | Watch

"Who, Me? Biased?"

Watch these short, whimsical two-minute videos from the New York Times about unconscious bias. They're fresh and entertaining looks at the science.

Dolly Chugh | re:Work with Google, 2016 | Watch

"Are we as ethical as we think we are?"

In this nine minute talk at Google, I talk about "bounded ethicality," unicorns and sex. Yes, really.

Dolly Chugh | Explore

"Dear Good People"

I write the free "Dear Good People" newsletter in the same spirit and voice of my TED Talk, with evidence-based, bite-sized, actionable advice for today's times. You can expect stories, science, reflections, anecdotes about my own mess-ups, elements from my first book and previews of my next book. You'll get a two- to five-minute read on the last Sunday of each month.

Learn more

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

Read more about the TED Institute

This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with BCG. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about the TED Institute.