Though the idea behind it is intriguing, the book threatens to topple from the unwieldy mix of conversational U.S. history,...
A college football coach fascinated by American Indian history draws contemporary life lessons from the biography of a 19th-century Apache warrior.
Since 2000, Leach (Swing Your Sword: Leading the Charge in Football and Life, 2011) has been in the public view as an unorthodox coach. Here, he collaborates with freelance writer Levy (River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon, 2011, etc.), examining the life and times of Geronimo (1829-1909), who could not have attained his warrior reputation without top-notch leadership skills. Leach's admiration for Geronimo is so broad and deep that the book borders on hagiography. The author admits that Geronimo could be viewed as a coldblooded killer, but the wrongs he and his Apache followers suffered due to a lying American government could have driven any fair-minded individual into a frenzy. Although Leach's research is in large part derivative—yet acknowledged—he does offer some fresh tidbits. Furthermore, his insights into the minds of Geronimo, his leading Apache supporters and the U.S. military commanders trying to corral the warrior feel fresh in both their hypothesizing and their passion. In every chapter, the narrative text is interspersed with pithy "Lessons" set in boldface type. During the mid-1800s war between the U.S. government and the government of Mexico, territory that had belonged to Mexico and Spain ended up as part of the United States. The Apaches, who already resided on that land, did not receive an invitation to the negotiations, and the misunderstandings and bloodshed that followed were widespread. Leach is strongest as a biographer when evaluating the stubbornness among warriors on both sides, which caused them to place territorial control as a greater value than the sanctity of life. After Geronimo's capture and imprisonment, the tale turns maudlin. With Geronimo a shadow of his warrior self, Leach’s lessons ring hollow.
Though the idea behind it is intriguing, the book threatens to topple from the unwieldy mix of conversational U.S. history, biography and self-help.Pub Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4767-3493-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 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
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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