While not for general readers, this handbook contains clear thinking about AI and large language models that will no doubt...
Leiva provides a framework to help large organizations integrate AI in this handbook.
Many organizations, says Leiva, a leading technology executive and information architect, fall into what he calls “the efficiency trap:” They optimize for speed and lowered costs while neglecting internal human judgment, thus eroding external customer trust. Leiva, who’s led teams at Apple, Intuit, and eBay (among others), understands that this situation can lead to “Zombie Organizations” that have begun to rely too heavily on automation. He provides many examples of such behavior, including a company where customers began to vent their frustrations via social media because they couldn’t reach a human agent to override system glitches. While Leiva wants to be sure executives and managers understand what they’re losing by focusing on metrics to the detriment of human interaction, his book is not a full-scale critique of the many areas that suffer from this “Velocity of Zero” (i.e., when a group has great output but little meaningful change). Rather, the negative examples exist to demonstrate the author’s “A.M.P.L.I.F.Y.” method, in which seven leadership disciplines, from Assess to Yield, can help keep organizations using AI processes hew to human principles. The first half of the book lays out the “Amplified” philosophy; the second half provides a toolkit along with design templates and implementation guides so that readers can start working toward real solutions. Although Leiva’s writing is meant for his peers, more casual readers might be heartened to see that among his recommendations for high-level companies are reliance on empathy, curiosity, and macro-management. As the author writes, “This book is not about using AI faster. It is about designing organizations that scale judgment, trust, and responsibility alongside technology.” Our world is an increasingly AI-driven place, but Leiva shows that, at least in the near future, leaders can build systems that adapt to the strengths of AI without losing the vital human accountability that should always be a marker of business success.
While not for general readers, this handbook contains clear thinking about AI and large language models that will no doubt benefit its niche target audience.Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9798903480036
Page Count: 338
Publisher: Beyond Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 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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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
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