Radical Doubt: Turning Uncertainty Into Surefire Success

A revelatory, scientific approach to turning DOUBT into a decision-making superpower—for leaders, parents, and anyone who has to make tough choices

Drawing on cutting-edge research from neuroscience, psychology, and moral philosophy, Radical Doubt offers a fresh perspective on decision-making, revealing why traditional approaches often fall short when facing the topic of uncertainty. Dr. Bidhan Parmar—one of the world’s top 40 business-school professors under 40—unveils the scientific principles that prove how doubt, counterintuitively, is our greatest decision-making tool.

Think back to the last difficult decision you had to make at work. Did it leave you anxious, unsure, and filled with doubt? How did you find a solution? And in the end, was your action and conclusion the best answer? Organizational leaders and managers often find themselves in such complex predicaments, where the stakes are high and clear answers are elusive. With Radical Doubt’s comprehensive framework and multi-faceted toolkit, you’ll learn how to tackle complex problems, treat your intuition as a hypothesis, generate multiple scenarios, craft flexible plans, and embrace doubt as a catalyst for growth. Through real-world examples and actionable strategies, leaders will feel empowered to make better decisions, balancing competing interests, using limited resources effectively, and strengthening relationships with stakeholders. This kind of decision-making is often the days' work for a corporate figurehead, and now it’s time to move beyond the quest for the “right answer” and become a master of making “better answers.”

Whether you’re a CEO or a new project manager, Radical Doubt is your guide to navigating moments of uncertainty, transforming doubt from a source of anxiety into your superpower for strategic thinking and effective leadership. With this guide, you’ll harness the power of doubt, unlock your potential, and lead with confidence in a dynamic and uncertain world.

Bidhan (Bobby) L. Parmar is the Shannon G. Smith Bicentennial Professor of Business Administration and Associate Dean for Faculty Development at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He teaches courses on business ethics, collaboration, and creative and critical thinking. He is also a fellow at the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics and is the Co-Director of the Darden Experiential Leadership Development Lab. He is a former fellow at the Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University.

Parmar’s unique research focuses on how managers make sense of uncertainty and collaborate to create value for stakeholders. His work helps executives better handle doubt in their decision-making. Parmar’s scholarship has been published in leading journals such as Organization Science, Psychological Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Organization Studies, Business & Society, and the Journal of Business Ethics. 

Parmar produced the documentary film Fishing with Dynamite about the role of business in society, featuring leading thinkers such as former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, Jim Collins (author of Good to Great), and Bethany McLean (author of The Smartest Guys in the Room). 

He was named one of the top 40 business school professors under 40 in the world and has won several awards for his teaching and research. Parmar lives in Charlottesville with his wife and two daughters.