A mostly solid introduction to financial topics through the lens of honeybees.
Henry and Mary Svec’s personal finance primer finds inspiration in beehives.
Beehives have served as a metaphor for capitalism and industry for centuries, and the authors lean into the comparison in this book, intended for parents and children to share. Writing from the perspective of a grandfather imparting wisdom to his grandchildren, the Svecs draw 10 lessons from his hives and show how they apply to the world of personal finance (“Being smart with your money means you have a system in place to take care of all those money problems that cause you stress. Like the healthy beehive, you thrive, are sustainable and can independently take care of your money needs”). The lessons include “Focus, Specialize and Be Efficient,” “Recycle,” “Be Strong, But Fight Only When Needed,” and “Know the Probability of Success.” Each chapter opens with a story from the world of bees, introduces a “Smart Money Lesson,” and concludes with an investment tip (Although the authors discuss specific companies they have invested in, they emphasize that the goal is for readers to understand the logic behind their choices, not follow them as an investment plan.) The beekeeping stories are scientifically sound, grounded in observation and reflecting the reality of the honeybee life cycle. They serve as effective illustrations of frugality, efficiency, and resourcefulness, and the Svecs draw clear links between what the bees do and how humans can employ similar tactics in building up savings, choosing a place to live, and developing specialized skills. However, some of the book’s assumptions about economic behavior seem to favor idealism over reality; the authors repeatedly warn against living in expensive urban areas but do not explore how the town of 4,000 they suggest as an alternative might serve the same needs. Readers in the United States may be surprised by the book’s Canadian focus, which comes up frequently in the text, but aside from a few items, like the details of government-backed bonds, the book’s financial advice is broadly applicable to readers in all parts of the world.
A mostly solid introduction to financial topics through the lens of honeybees.Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2023
ISBN: 9781989346983
Page Count: 92
Publisher: The Publishing Shop
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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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