Insightful and inspiring business guidance that doubles as life advice.
Reeves delivers a persuasive manifesto against complacency in business and life.
The author grew up roughing it in the Australian Outback with his adventurous parents and siblings; one particularly noxious culinary mishap gives his book its title and key symbol. Reeves convincingly argues that discomfort drives creativity and growth, while playing it safe paves the way to inevitable decline. The author provides case studies from his impressive career leading marketing and strategy for global brands such as LVMH and Amazon. He asserts that “optimization leads every industry toward sameness and identical mediocrity,” and that AI is only going to accelerate that trend. Reeves proposes a three-part “Foundation Theory” for remaining distinctive, relevant, and successful. First is Foundation, “your company’s soul,” the unchanging core defined early on that guides every later decision (for example, “belonging” for Airbnb, “mobility” for Michelin, and “convenience” at Amazon). Next, “Principles” are the company’s conscience—nonnegotiable rules for behavior. Finally, Characteristics create the company’s “personality,” or “how your brand shows up in the world.” Reeves posits that “every company, every team, and every person exists in one of two states,” Explorer or Static, discovering the next thing or optimizing what already exists. It’s essential to balance these states, as either alone is unsustainable—too much exploring induces burnout, but too little means stagnation. The book also includes the author’s insights on executive leadership, the transcendence of mediocrity, stumbling blocks, organizational structure, innovation facilitation, and the importance of rest (and even boredom). Though the book is aimed at corporate managers, much of Reeves’ wisdom (“this isn’t failure—it’s learning” or “don’t wait for perfect conditions; instead, make progress with what’s available”) is equally effective as everyday life advice. His analysis of well-known companies’ successes and failures rings true, and he writes with refreshing directness, using clear examples, vivid analogies (“the energy of a used-car lot on the last day of the month”), and relatable personal anecdotes. This is a rare example of a business book that’s both useful and entertaining.
Insightful and inspiring business guidance that doubles as life advice.Pub Date: March 15, 2026
ISBN: 9798988742456
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Cordurouy Books
Review Posted Online: April 10, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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