This book talk is a conversation with Deepak Malhotra, moderated by Max Bazerman, about the negotiation lessons contained in Malhotra’s latest book (and debut novel), The Peacemaker’s Code. The novel has a sci-fi hook and a thrilling premise, but embedded throughout the book are real lessons and insights on negotiation, diplomacy, strategy, history and war and peace. Expect a lively conversation from these two esteemed colleagues at Harvard Business School, co-authors of Negotiation Genius, and members of the Program on Negotiation’s Executive Committee.
In the featured book The Peacemaker’s Code, Professor Kilmer, a renowned historian of war and diplomacy, is collected from his home and whisked off to Washington. Thrust into the highest levels of government as an adviser to the President, the young historian must come to terms with the seemingly impossible, figure out how to navigate a world where not everything is as it appears, and use all the skills and knowledge he has acquired in his life to help save humanity from a conflict of truly epic proportions. A genre-breaking novel that re-examines the human condition and masterfully blends some of the most compelling themes in literature: war & peace, strategy & serendipity, love & friendship, courage & fear, the bounds of possibility, and the limits of imagination.
Author Deepak Malhotra is a professor at Harvard Business School and the award-winning author of Negotiation Genius (with Max Bazerman) and Negotiating the Impossible. He is an advisor to CEOs across the globe, and to governments that are aspiring to end or prevent armed conflicts.
In 2020, Malhotra launched a new course at Harvard, entitled War & Peace: The Lessons of History for Strategy, Leadership, Negotiation, Policy and Humanity. Also in 2020, he was named Business School “Professor of the Year” by Poets & Quants. He has won numerous awards for his teaching and research, including the HBS Faculty Award, and has been twice selected by Harvard MBA students to give the end-of-year speech to the graduating class. In 2014, Malhotra was listed as one of the “world’s best business school professors” under the age of 40.
Moderator Max H. Bazerman is the Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. His recent books include Better, Not Perfect, The Power of Experiments (with Michael Luca), The Power of Noticing, Judgment in Managerial Decision Making (with Don Moore), and Blind Spots (with Ann Tenbrunsel).
Bazerman received an honorary doctorate from the University of London, the Life Achievement Award from the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program, the Distinguished Educator Award from the Academy of Management, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of Management. In addition, he was named as Ethisphere’s 100 Most Influential in Business Ethics and as one of Daily Kos’ Heroes for going public about how the Bush Administration corrupted the RICO Tobacco trial. Bazerman’s external work involves teaching and consulting in 30 countries.