A lucid and compelling sports-oriented plan to align technology with business goals.
A detailed overview of the principles behind leveraging sports technologies to achieve business success.
“Without clear thinking, we only accomplish the wrong things faster,” writes Nugent, co-founder and CEO of a sports-focused tech advisory company. “A Phillips-head screwdriver will never be a hammer, no matter how fervently you swing it.” In these pages, the author lays out a program specific to sports franchises to help them develop productive plans for innovation, select the right tools, and use them wisely. He urges readers to look at the nature of their sport, review their organizational priorities, and consider their approach in light of the inevitable march of technological innovation. Nugent looks at various examples, such as NASCAR, which faced questions about digital media rights; advances in technology made it possible for the organization to engage with fans in unprecedented ways, but “it would be costly.” From such examples, the author derives some basic principles, foremost of which is that rather than haplessly chasing after the latest innovations in order to shape goals, businesses should first clarify their goals and then adopt the latest technology to achieve them. Drawing on his experience deploying tech across a variety of sports, Nugent presents readers with a road map to reach their desired outcomes. The material is broken down into short sections with numerous bulleted points. The thinking is clearly and forcefully expressed, and the author’s extensive experience is evident throughout. But the book’s main strength is its surprisingly empathetic humanity. Nugent’s advice is crisp and tough, but it’s always softened with understanding. (“Every company on earth is made up of people,” he writes, “and people make mistakes.”) While his advice is specifically tailored to the sports world, the principles he outlines can easily be adapted by any organization: Tech in all cases should produce revenue, create great fan (read: customer) experiences, attract advertisers, and so on. Good basics for any organization to review.
A lucid and compelling sports-oriented plan to align technology with business goals.Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9798891383593
Page Count: 240
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 23, 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
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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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