Book Reviews

There’s too much focus on individual performance, not enough on group performance. However, the most challenging work today is done in groups because problems are too complex for one person. Cognitive Diverse Groups Perform Better Cognitive diverse groups have less blindspots We look at the world through limited frames (see [[Mental Model]] and [[Framing]]), which make our perspective uniquely biased and contain blind spots. We are oblivious to these blind spots (= perspective blindness), which makes us underestimate how much we can learn from people with different perspectives....

Book Cover Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? Why should suicide bombers buy life insurance? Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner answered such questions in their controversial books “Freakonomics” and “Superfreakonomics”. They have a unique way of looking at problems and often find surprising insights and solutions to common problems. In “Think Like a Freak”, they write about the principles and concepts behind their thinking....

If you want a successful and fulfilling life, you shouldn’t optimize for happiness. Instead, Richard Meadows argues that you should focus on increasing optionality. We think happiness is a state we can arrive at. However, happiness is always relative, and we have both external and internal reference points that guide our happiness level. Because of the hedonic treadmill, you’ll need newer and stronger “happiness kicks” to get to the same level of happiness than before....

Will China or India overpower the West in the future and take the lead? Ian Morris sets out to answer this question. By looking into the past, he’s convinced that we can understand how western dominion came about. He’s also convinced that by understanding this, we’re able to predict what comes next. In essence, biology and sociology tell us that humans are mostly the same. All have the same nature and need energy to survive....

I read 34 books in 2021 which amounted to about 11’500 pages. I deliberately didn’t set a “reading goal” for the year because I preferred not to focus on quantity, but rather maximize enjoyment and utility. Here are six books, both fiction and non-fiction, that stood out for me. Fiction The Peacemaker’s Code – Deepak Malhotra Deepak Malhotra is a Harvard professor who focuses on negotiation and diplomacy topics. This book is a fun and exciting way to learn about these topics in a fictionalized scenario....