Astute and keenly observed business advice, yet down-to-earth in its use of real-world workplace examples and everyday...
Sound advice for interacting with others at work.
This debut has all the elements of a useful business book: lots of examples, authoritative advice, highlighted “keys” explaining main concepts, and short, easy-to-read chapters. Ballard covers a lot of territory, addressing such issues as the differences between people, working in groups, organizational structure and culture, how leaders gain power and influence, job satisfaction, and the meaning of work. Although some of his observations might be unsurprising to those experienced with workplace interactions, others are sure to be eye-opening, particularly for younger workers. For example, the author’s discussion of how one can be more successful at making decisions by adopting a “systems perspective” contains a valuable lesson: “Thinking of organizations as being systems…can be a strength,” Ballard writes. “Too often people see their parts of the organization as fiefdoms or silos separated from the rest of the organization.” Just as important are the numerous messages about how perception becomes reality; Ballard suggests that one’s perceptions of one’s performance are more important than the actual performance itself, as are the impressions one creates. The author shares deep insight into the culture of organizations and dramatizes the impact of the culture on the worker: “Differences between what an organization preaches and what it does could reveal the real core of an organization’s culture,” he asserts. He’s also acutely aware of how personal interactions relate to the quality of one’s work: “Even if you are not a manager, your effectiveness can be affected very strongly by your relationships with others.” This is the kind of high-level perspective that only a former management consultant and current professor of management could share, and it’s sure to be helpful to managers and lower-level workers alike.
Astute and keenly observed business advice, yet down-to-earth in its use of real-world workplace examples and everyday language.Pub Date: May 12, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4408-3826-2
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Praeger
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
IN THE NEWS
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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