A clear and convincing argument for starting organizational change at the bottom.
Tucci offers a prescription for engaging frontline employees in organizational change in this debut business book.
The author, founder and CEO of business consulting firm Leap Academy, argues that frontline employees are often the best placed to understand what fundamental changes need to be made to everyday practices in order to achieve high-level business goals: So that means company leaders should engage staff in the process of determining and implementing changes in all parts of the process. The book is divided into three sections, including an overview of the theory behind Tucci’s “ideas-to-action” method, a guide to implementing the process, and a series of case studies contributed by executives who have successfully used the techniques. The author identifies simple and seemingly obvious solutions that are ultimately workable only because the people responsible for carrying them out are invested in solving the problems, feel a sense of ownership, and are given the authority to make changes (“By starting with the natural energy in employee ideas, the stage was set for quick and effective action”). Tucci addresses the challenges faced by lower-level employees trying to bring about organizational change and offers guidance for managers and executives looking to support, advocate for, and guide the employees’ work instead of allowing their enthusiasm to dissipate into disengagement when initiatives are mishandled at higher levels. The book effectively blends business theory and history with practical applications, allowing readers to understand the logic behind “ideas-to-action” without overwhelming them with abstractions. The author also does a good job of explaining his framework with sufficient examples to make its application clear while also allowing the reader see that the process can be modified and adapted as needed. The book is an easy read, with clear prose that, while not particularly distinctive, avoids jargon and does not celebrate its own importance. Summaries at the beginning and end of each chapter keep the reader on track with the book’s key points, making it useful as a reference tool as well as a straightforward text. The emphasis on initiating and supporting change at the lowest levels of the organization distinguishes the book from the plethora of leadership guides in the marketplace.
A clear and convincing argument for starting organizational change at the bottom.Pub Date: May 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781038318060
Page Count: 182
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
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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