Unsafe Thinking: How to Be Nimble and Bold When You Need It Most

ISBN-13: 9780738220147 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 256 str.

Jonah Sachs

Opis

How to take bold yet intelligent risks in a volatile world where everyone instinctively craves safety and stability

"Safe thinking" is everywhere, and there are concrete reasons why. The reliance on well-known patterns, carefully constructed plans, and the expertise we've developed in facing prior challenges has a magnetic pull on our psyches. Overcoming this bias is an urgent problem that nearly everyone in business must now confront. In Unsafe Thinking, Jonah Sachs probes deeply into the pitfalls of safe thinking through the experiences of successful trailblazers in a wide range of fields from business, health, education, and more. For example, take the story of Helena Foulkes, a vice-president at CVS who asked: Why would a company committed to health and wellness sell cigarettes? "Because it's a $2 billion part of our business and removing cigarettes won't make a dent in reducing smoking," shareholders replied. Yet Foulkes convinced her colleague; cutting cigarettes has opened many other profitable avenues, and smoking has actually decreased in communities where many people used to buy their cigarettes at CVS.

Sachs also delves into the scientific literature of many leading researchers in the areas of cognition and creativity. What emerges is a fascinating set of stories of individuals who, despite the fears and resistance we all face, have deeply changed themselves, their companies, and the fields in which they work. Sachs calls these people "unsafe thinkers." But they are not simply mavericks and radicals who break all the rules. It turns out that there are clear principles and habits of mind these people exhibit that account for their success. Sachs lays out ample evidence that anyone, armed with the will and basic understanding of how to do it, can become an unsafe thinker.