An optimistic book about communication that would benefit from a narrower scope.
A crash course on improving communication.
In this interactive guide, scholar and project management expert Arus introduces Appreciative Inquiry, a solution-focused communication approach rooted in positive psychology. Rather than focusing on problems, the method highlights strengths and possibilities to facilitate constructive change. The book outlines four communication styles: Assertive communication is clear, confident, and respectful; aggressive communication is hostile and forceful; passive communication avoids conflict by withholding thoughts and feelings; passive-aggressive communication expresses negative feelings indirectly. Arus offers a simple formula: State the facts, then explain their impact using “I” language. This approach avoids accusation and encourages negotiation. For example, instead of “You’re insulting me,” the author suggests saying, “I felt offended.” Asking questions, rather than making assumptions, is key. In strategic questioning, a technique derived from therapy groups, one person describes an issue while others ask clarifying questions to facilitate solutions. The book encourages withholding initial reactions, assuming good intent, and adopting an appreciative mindset—instead of contemplating whether the cup is half-full or half-empty, the author advocates asking, “What are the three best qualities of the water that you see in this cup?” Arus’ outline includes the Constructionist Principle (believing something positive always exists), the Simultaneity Principle (speaking up when you see something positive), the Poetic Principle (recognizing that there are many ways to appreciate things), the Anticipatory Principle (expecting positive things), and the Positivity Principle (maintaining forward momentum). The author recommends “daily appreciation exercises” to retrain the brain to notice the positive; she also provides norms to support appreciative brainstorming, such as “No idea is too small or too big” and “Listen actively and with respect.”
In this plainspoken guide, Arus presents communication tools in a simple, easy-to-understand format. Each lesson consists of a brief explanation of a concept followed by exercises to encourage immediate application (a lesson on constructive feedback counsels readers to describe what they like, then suggest improvements and explain how to carry them out). The author encourages readers to see the positive and emphasizes a strengths-based approach. “When you operate based on fear, you narrow down your options to one: define the target and incapacitate it,” she writes. In contrast, “when you operate based on strengths, you open your mind and see that there is potentially more than one solution.” The exercises are both accessible and hope-filled, like taking 15 minutes weekly to “envision and write about your ideal joy-filled life” and assessing monthly how your life is improving. Suggestions are practical; a section on “Managing Up” offers tips to foster a positive and effective relationship with a boss, including scripts like “Here’s where I’m strongest and where you can count on me” or “I’m still learning in these areas and could use a little extra patience or guidance.” Arus also allows for—and even normalizes—failure: “Quitting is also OK. You quit because you still are actively searching for the ideal image for you,” she writes. However, the range of examples in the book is too broad, covering everything from communication with children to business negotiations to life-saving tips for confronting Stalinism. The multiple Appreciative Inquiry frameworks presented (the 5-D Model, the 5-I Model, etc.) may also confuse readers looking for a singular, more straightforward path.
An optimistic book about communication that would benefit from a narrower scope.Pub Date: April 12, 2025
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 120
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 29, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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
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