Healthy Friction: The Science of Productive Disagreement — BrainHealth Presents

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Healthy Friction: The Science of Productive Disagreement

Eli Finkel, PhD
Founding Co-Director of the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement

Drawing on cutting‑edge social psychology and leadership research, this talk explains why disagreement — when handled well — is a powerful engine for innovation, better decisions and stronger relationships.

How Can Disagreement Fuel Resilience?

In this engaging talk, Eli Finkel, PhD, explains how polarization and misperception derail productive dialogue, offering practical strategies for engaging across differences — without dehumanizing counterparts. Participants leave with tools to transform conflict into insight and harness disagreement as a competitive advantage in organizations and society alike.

Founding co-director of the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, Dr. Finkel is the Morton O. Schapiro Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, where he leads the Relationships And Motivation Lab (RAMLAB), and also co-host of the popular podcast Love Factually. He is a professor of psychology at the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences and professor of management & organizations at the Kellogg School of Management.

Watch a video of Dr. Finkel speaking about his work at the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement.

This talk is sponsored by the Northwestern and Kellogg DFW Alumni Clubs.

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About Our Most Popular Speaker Series

This fall, BrainHealth Presents focuses on Building Resilience for the Future.

Expert guest speakers will showcase diverse perspectives on strengthening the brain’s adaptive capacity. Each speaker will share unique expertise on how using our brains more intentionally can strengthen them to help us overcome challenges and create new opportunities in a rapidly evolving world.

Tickets include:

VIP reception from 6:00–7:00 p.m.

Hors d'oeurves, beverages and specialty mocktails – catering provided by Eating Royally, whose chef-owner has cooked for members of the British royal family.

Talk from 7:00 p.m.–8:15 p.m.

Post-event virtual access to full recordings of all ticketed talks.

Special season subscriber benefits, including an exclusive single-ticket rate of $24 for subscriber guests (60% off)

An opportunity to interact with the speaker and other like-minded attendees.