Five minutes with the faculty: David Faro

Dr David Faro is Associate Professor of Marketing at London Business School, where he explores how people make decisions under uncertainty – from everyday consumer choices to high-stakes managerial judgements. His research examines financial and health decision-making, time perception and prosocial behaviour, asking how we can help individuals and leaders choose more wisely. Here, he reflects on the career decisions that shaped his own path and on the quiet psychology of time that creeps up on us all.

What first sparked your interest in your field?

A friend of mine gave me a book called Quasi-Rational Economics by Richard Thaler. The name of the book (and later, the ideas) sounded interesting.

What might students or colleagues be surprised to learn about you?

That after almost 20 years of doing it, I still get anxious before teaching.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

I received offers to join PhD programmes at LBS and Chicago. As I was visiting LBS and about to accept their offer, I told one wise faculty member at LBS that I really liked London and wanted to live here. He told me that, in that case, I should maybe accept the Chicago offer, as doing so would increase my chances of ending up living in London.

Another good piece of advice I received is this: the fact that you can do something well does not mean you should do it or continue doing it. I think this is good career advice on when to change careers and when to perhaps slow down or stop.

And the worst?

To buy a boat. I haven’t taken that advice yet, but I eventually will. And then I will regret it. I don’t know how to reconcile that with what I teach on good decision-making.

What’s your go-to productivity trick or daily habit?

I’m still looking – I’d welcome suggestions.

I don’t have a fixed habit, but eliminating stressors helps.

What’s the most unusual or memorable place you’ve ever worked or studied?

Due to family health issues, I ended up spending much time working in hospitals. I found working in such a setting surprisingly efficient at times.

If you could have dinner with any significant figure, who would it be and why?

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey. I would like to understand him better and also see if I could change his mind on some matters.

What book, film, quote or piece of art has had the most impact on you?

From the novel The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati, describing the protagonist Giovanni Drogo: “He realised that in recent months – but since when exactly? – he no longer ran up the stairs two at a time. It had happened without his noticing it, as things do that creep upon us slowly.” This book (and this passage in particular) still makes me think of the passage of time, of ageing, of things that slowly happen to us without our noticing.

What else should we know about you?

I was not admitted to the MBA programme at LBS; I think I was waitlisted. But somehow, nonetheless, I have been teaching LBS MBAs for many years now.