SHORTLISTED FOR BEST SPECIALIST BUSINESS BOOK AT THE BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS 2021 Have you ever relied on your hand to remember your pin rather than your memory? Or acted out a golf stroke before going for it? Or listened to your gut on a big decision? In this insightful new book, leading business anthropologist Simon Roberts breaks down the revolutionary idea of embodied knowledge: the information that is unconsciously picked up by our body for use in every area of our lives. Drawing on his own experience working with some of the world's leading industry experts and looking at a range of real-life examples and cutting-edge science, Roberts explains the various ways in which our body acquires, retains and employs information and why we should learn to trust the instincts that inform the most crucial decisions and actions in our lives. The Power of Not Thinking shows why humans are capable of far more than we are currently led to believe. We just have to stop thinking and start trusting our bodies.
A smart, hilarious parody of Malcolm Gladwell's bestselling Blink. Stop! Don't think! You already know what this book is about. That is the power of Blank: the power of not actually thinking at all. Using what scientific researchers call 'Extra–Lean Deli Slicing' (or would, if they actually bothered to research it), your brain has already decided whether you're going to like Blank, whether its cover goes with your shirt, and whether it will make you look smart if somebody sees you reading it on the train. Chances are you and your shirt are both liking it a lot, you're going to buy several copies, and you don't even know why! That's why you've absolutely got to read Blank: to find out why your brain keeps doing these wacky things without your permission. In Blank, a hilarious parody of the No. 1 bestseller it looks eerily like (and sort of rhymes with) and that your brain wisely advised you to just read a review or magazine excerpt about while avoiding the actual book itself, the brilliantly impulsive and slightly irresponsible Noah Tall explains how people as diverse as General Custer, Roy Rogers, a semi–famous rock star, and the entire New York City Police Department either won big or lost miserably as a result of their minds going completely blank.
“Witty, compelling, and just plain fun to read . . ." —Evelyn Lamb, Scientific American The Freakonomics of math—a math-world superstar unveils the hidden beauty and logic of the world and puts its power in our hands The math we learn in school can seem like a dull set of rules, laid down by the ancients and not to be questioned. In How Not to Be Wrong, Jordan Ellenberg shows us how terribly limiting this view is: Math isn’t confined to abstract incidents that never occur in real life, but rather touches everything we do—the whole world is shot through with it. Math allows us to see the hidden structures underneath the messy and chaotic surface of our world. It’s a science of not being wrong, hammered out by centuries of hard work and argument. Armed with the tools of mathematics, we can see through to the true meaning of information we take for granted: How early should you get to the airport? What does “public opinion” really represent? Why do tall parents have shorter children? Who really won Florida in 2000? And how likely are you, really, to develop cancer? How Not to Be Wrong presents the surprising revelations behind all of these questions and many more, using the mathematician’s method of analyzing life and exposing the hard-won insights of the academic community to the layman—minus the jargon. Ellenberg chases mathematical threads through a vast range of time and space, from the everyday to the cosmic, encountering, among other things, baseball, Reaganomics, daring lottery schemes, Voltaire, the replicability crisis in psychology, Italian Renaissance painting, artificial languages, the development of non-Euclidean geometry, the coming obesity apocalypse, Antonin Scalia’s views on crime and punishment, the psychology of slime molds, what Facebook can and can’t figure out about you, and the existence of God. Ellenberg pulls from history as well as from the latest theoretical developments to provide those not trained in math with the knowledge they need. Math, as Ellenberg says, is “an atomic-powered prosthesis that you attach to your common sense, vastly multiplying its reach and strength.” With the tools of mathematics in hand, you can understand the world in a deeper, more meaningful way. How Not to Be Wrong will show you how.
Using examples from his long career, a legendary basketball coach outlines the benefits of negative thinking, which helps build a realistic strategy that takes all potential obstacles into account.
Details the role our body plays in how we learn and how we can tap into our body’s knowledge to excel in all facets of life. Ask someone to point to the part of their body responsible for their intelligence and it is highly likely that they will point at their head. This assumption is understandable, given that, for centuries, from Descartes’ “cogito ergo sum” to the computer age, this is what we have been told to think. And yet we all share common experiences that have revealed the incomparable power of “not thinking”. Have you ever struggled to remember your pin number only to hold your fingers out and type it correctly with your hands, played the piano without focusing on remembering the correct notes or listened to your gut feeling when under the pressure of a big decision? All these instances prove that it is time to stop neglecting the role the body plays in our acquisition of knowledge and to explore how it is that brain and body combine to deliver what we view as uniquely human intelligence. You never forgot how to ride a bike did you? In this unique new book, social and business anthropologist Simon Roberts looks at the pivotal role that our body plays in how we learn and reminds us of why we should learn to listen to it more often. Drawing upon an incredible range of cutting-edge science, real-life examples and personal experience, Roberts explores the complexity of even the simplest of tasks that humans perform every day and goes on to explain how, with a greater awareness of the processes at work, we can tap into our full potential and excel in any area of our lives. His proposition isn’t the antidote to big data, cold rationalism, and reductionism. But, as embodied knowledge emerges from our engagement and interaction with the world, the author underlines why intelligence does not solely reside in our brains. If there’s a single, practical message to be taken from it, it is that we should give more credit to the role of the body as a resource for learning about and understanding the world. That means a more ‘sleeves rolled up’, engaged and practical way of ‘learning by doing’ not by rational detachment.
From the #1 bestselling author of The Bomber Mafia, the landmark book that has revolutionized the way we understand leadership and decision making. In his breakthrough bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant--in the blink of an eye--that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work--in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others? In Blink we meet the psychologist who has learned to predict whether a marriage will last, based on a few minutes of observing a couple; the tennis coach who knows when a player will double-fault before the racket even makes contact with the ball; the antiquities experts who recognize a fake at a glance. Here, too, are great failures of "blink": the election of Warren Harding; "New Coke"; and the shooting of Amadou Diallo by police. Blink reveals that great decision makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of "thin-slicing"--filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.
Most individuals were never formally taught thinking skills and, as a result, are using processes that were developed during childhood to reach decisions and solve problems. Thus, in an era of knowledge explosion, organizational performance accountability, and rapid change caused by technology, leaders and managers are trying to succeed using thinking patterns developed before they were twelve years old. Power Thinking offers leaders the information they need to evaluate their current thinking proficiencies, determine areas for improvement, and enhance their thinking skills. The book includes the Yale Assessment of Thinking, a standardized assessment measure that enables readers to determine their abilities in the cognitive domains found to be crucial to being an outstanding leader.
How often are we urged to "look on the bright side"? From Norman Vincent Peale to the ubiquitous smiley face, optimism has become an essential part of American society. In this long-overdue book, psychologist Julie Norem offers convincing evidence that, for many people, positive thinking is an ineffective strategy -- and often an obstacle -- for successfully coping with the anxieties and pressures of modern life. Drawing on her own research and many vivid case histories, Norem provides evidence of the powerful benefits of "defensive pessimism," which has helped millions to manage anxiety and perform their best work.
