A worthy, tightly organized, and intriguing program for rethinking thinking.
A “toolkit” focuses on understanding and improving the brain’s performance.
In his slim debut guide, Watts begins with the simple assertion that the human brain is “buggy.” He proceeds from that declaration to offer readers insights into how the brain works and how to fix its stubborn shortcomings. The author’s 10-year history in software development informs his use of terms like debugging. He combines this expertise with a psychological approach centered on introspection and cognitive behavioral therapy to create a method of reworking old thought patterns and rewiring dated habits. Key to this technique is the differentiation between what Watts calls the “inner” and the “outer” brain, the inner being the more instinctual, unthinking center of visceral reaction and the outer being the more rational and evaluative part. This reality—that humans feel first and think second—prompts the author to imagine a software-style “Input-Process-Output” model that can be modified in one of two ways: either Input-Habit-Output or Input-Mindful-Output. Watts furnishes many hypothetical situations (quite a few from his personal life) that his readers will find immediately recognizable and follows all of those scenarios with quick and incisive analyses. In all cases, some variation of CBT is his suggestion for resolving the problems he poses. In friendly, engaging prose, he urges his readers to talk things out with a friend (or a rubber ducky if no cohort is available at the moment), write things down, and even read some fiction to help with the brain’s processing techniques. Most of his procedural suggestions boil down to common sense (think about your own actions; express yourself; be a good confessor and a superb listener), but they’re no less valuable for that, particularly when delivered with the energy and optimism Watts employs throughout his book. Regardless of their stance on CBT, readers will find a great deal of useful advice here.
A worthy, tightly organized, and intriguing program for rethinking thinking.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-578-75503-8
Page Count: 94
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2021
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
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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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