An intelligent exploration of the psychology of the entrepreneur and the toxic effects of authoritarianism.
A financial book offers a distillation of the entrepreneurial mindset and a discussion of the ways in which it can be inspired in post-Soviet nations.
When Diehl moved to Armenia, he was struck by the lack of a robust entrepreneurial culture. Despite the freedom gained by the demise of the Soviet Union, the country had not yet established a general mindset that exploited it. In fact, the author avers, this was common among the post-Soviet nations—generations were brainwashed to believe not only that capitalistic pursuit was inherently evil, but also that their lots in life were beyond their control, and when in need, they should look reflexively to the government for assistance. Diehl refers to this as the “bureaucratic mentality” or “Post-Soviet Self-Defeatism”—the “pathological fear of stepping off the beaten and culturally condoned path in both the setting of goals and the devising of strategies to achieve them.” To this abdication of rational self-sufficiency, the author proposes the entrepreneurial worldview, which posits goals and then creatively and independently pursues them. Diehl explains the stultifying legacy of authoritarianism, the path out of it, and the worldview of the entrepreneur with admirable clarity and concision. Rather than a book about practical strategy—the author rightfully decries get-rich-quick schemes—this is a careful articulation of the mentality of the entrepreneur, both generally and as it applies to capital goods, commodities, money, marketing, and many of the technical elements of wealth creation. Diehl’s work is refreshingly hopeful without being unabashedly sanguine—he soberly realizes that tectonic cultural shifts only happen in generational time. Readers will wish that he had more to say about what precisely could be done to expedite the process—his recommendations are vague, calling for “unlocking the belief that it is within their power to take control of their own lives.” Still, this is an impressively perspicacious book, and one that should be invaluable for aspiring entrepreneurs from wherever they hail.
An intelligent exploration of the psychology of the entrepreneur and the toxic effects of authoritarianism.Pub Date: March 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-945884-68-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Identity Publications
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2022
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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