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take our irrational tendencies and get the worst out of them. This happens a lot with technology. Cell phones are wonderful technology, but put them together with driving cars and they become incredibly dangerous. I recently read a paper that looked at how many deaths are caused by human mistakes versus old age or dis- ease. The paper found that 70 or 80 years ago, human mistakes caused about 10 percent of all deaths. Today, it's about 50 percent. Basically, we create many more ways to fail, through our decisions in areas such as health, exercise, and safe sex. Why are companies more irrational than individuals? Two reasons. The first is that companies rely on law- yers. Lawyers aren't rewarded for trying something fantastic, but they're punished when something bad happens. So, they have to think about small unlikely things that could happen and try to prevent them. Because of that, they prevent lots of progression. The second is how businesses fill everybody's time. Imagine if tomorrow you have an idea about how to do something differently, but your e-mail box is full, and you have meetings all day long. When are you going to find the time to do anything differently? Com- panies have to make more room for innovation. In your studies of psychology, what findings have you found most fascinating? The experiments on dishonesty. Before I started these studies, I had the vision that there were a few bad apples who cheat a lot but that most people are very honest. It turns out that people can cheat a little bit and feel very good about themselves. As long as we cheat just a little, we can still see ourselves as honest, thanks to our cognitively flexible psychology. What are the most irrational behaviors you see in business schools? I think that business schools don't understand conflicts of interest. For example, they think that if they offer classes on morality and ethics, people will stop being immoral or unethical. That won't necessarily happen. Also, one of the things I hate the most in business education is case studies, because case studies give peo- ple the illusion that they've actually learned a concept. Students only learn about one story in a case study. They cannot learn the whole situation. For over 80 years, The Peter J. Tobin College of Business has developed well- rounded graduates to succeed in the ever-changing global marketplace. Our extensive programs, innovative faculty and state-of-the- art facilities provide students with invaluable experience, leadership skills and a competitive edge. www.stjohns.edu/tobin What is a Tobin college graduate? Prepared/Successful/ Competitive TOBIN BizEd May/June 2011 61