A convincing argument for using failures to learn, with instructions for doing it well.
A rethinking of the role of failure in business.
In this business book, Mandel introduces readers to the burnt cookie theory, an extended metaphor in which mistakes are expected, embraced as learning opportunities, and used to effect long-term improvements. Elements of the theory include the Baker (the person or team doing the work), the Oven (the systems, tools, and resources involved), and the Recipe (the plan, strategy, and workflow that the Baker uses). The author takes readers through the core elements of the theory, then explains how to apply each aspect of it toward diagnosing problems, allowing companies to pinpoint what’s gone wrong in an atmosphere that allows everyone to admit mistakes without fear of being singled out as scapegoats. The book provides several case studies of companies, such as Pixar and Amazon, that have embraced the theory, which has allowed them to turn parts of disastrous projects into eventual successes (Mandel also discusses unsuccessful companies like Quibi that could have benefitted from its use). Later chapters address the challenges of implementing the techniques without managerial or company-wide support and the specific ways in which the burnt cookie theory can incorporate the use of AI tools without evading responsibility for their outputs (“Long before AI, employees were hiding the tools they used to get their work done”). Mandel does an excellent job of developing the theory and explaining how it can be beneficial, providing concrete examples of conversations that managers can have with their teams (alongside conversations employees can have with skeptical bosses) and actionable guidelines for implementing the concept. Although the frequent references to Bakers, Ovens, and Recipes (along with occasional visits to Test Kitchens and Dining Rooms) can wear a bit thin, the author’s use of the terminology serves to reinforce the key elements of the system. The author makes a compelling case for expecting failures and approaching them from a place of curiosity, and his book succeeds by offering concrete ways to turn its framework into a regular practice.
A convincing argument for using failures to learn, with instructions for doing it well.Pub Date: May 28, 2026
ISBN: 9798198821958
Page Count: 178
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A passionate and accessible guide to humanizing the workplace.
Helbig and Norman present a game plan for making leadership more responsively human.
In this expanded update to The Psychological Safety Playbook: Lead More Powerfully by Being More Human (2023), the authors provide “practical strategies for responding to resistance, sparking change, embodying the change we want to see, and moving forward deliberately,” specifically in a business setting. They suggest ways to encourage what they call “changemakers” through the use of five key “plays” from their playbook: Communicate Courageously, Master the Art of Listening, Manage Your Reactions (“shift from automatic reaction to conscious response to stay better connected to yourself and others”), Embrace Risk and Failure, and Design Inclusive Rituals. The goal is to ensure that organizational cultures promote psychological safety, guided by leaders who “walk the talk” by emphasizing their own humanity at every turn. (“We must be the first to share our own failures with our teams, which will start to make it possible for others to do the same.”) This call for example-setting is sounded throughout the book as Helbig and Norman urge their target audience (leaders and would-be leaders) to go beyond mere instruction and instead embody the qualities they want to see in their subordinates, such as continuous learning, active curiosity, and self-reflection. Each chapter includes a detailed “Recommended Reading” section and text with extensive numbered and bulleted points formatted to make the core concepts more immediately digestible. The authors effectively employ clear and empathetic prose to assure readers that psychological safety is slow to build and quick to break, observing that such safety requires steady attention and delivers outsize payoffs as a result. They refreshingly ground a great deal of the material in psychology and neuroscience, pointing out, for instance, that research has demonstrated that the parasympathetic nervous system responds to honest appreciation, which improves creative thinking. Some wistful readers might consider some of the authors’ suggestions beyond the reach of their own organizations, as when group facilitators are advised to “gently intervene when someone dominates the conversation,” but hope springs eternal.
A passionate and accessible guide to humanizing the workplace.Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9798993550503
Page Count: 170
Publisher: Crazy Idea Press
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
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