An indispensable study of the challenges of the new work world.
A business-world book that outlines keys to overcoming work-related stress.
Davis, the founder and CEO of the Stress & Resilience Institute consultancy, opens her debut book by citing several things that have contributed to “burnout” in 2021, which many readers will find familiar. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, for example, unemployment spiked and, due to many workers working remotely, “boundaries blurred, and always being at home made it nearly impossible to fully detach from work.” In addition, she notes, “underrepresented groups have exhausted themselves trying to fit into organizations that continue to undersupport them.” Factors such as these—and she could easily have listed half a dozen more in today’s work environment—have combined to create a “tsunami of stress,” and this book presents a number of insights and strategies designed to help one understand and combat the burnout that can result from it. Readers will nod in agreement as they read this searching, empathetic, and timely work. In it, Davis describes the burnout process as more complicated than simply being tired from working too hard; she views it as a manifestation of chronic workplace stress and as a “gateway process” to more serious health problems, such as depression and panic attacks. She asserts that the key to getting through burnout is to avoid trying to do so alone. The silver bullet, she says, is teamwork: “Resilient teams,” she writes, “anticipate challenges, are aware of each other’s capacity level, provide ongoing status updates to team members during a crisis, know when to go outside the team for help, debrief regularly, and communicate appreciation.” Davis grounds her contentions with copious, well-documented research, all presented in crisp, clear prose. She also bolsters her central notion of fostering “belonging and motivation” with graphs and other well-designed visuals that help to put forward a holistic vision.
An indispensable study of the challenges of the new work world.Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-61363-112-6
Page Count: 140
Publisher: Wharton School Press
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 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
BOOK REVIEW
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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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