My summer reading will certainly be an exciting selection of my favorite authors. How many people count an economist or recognized authors who have recently moved to podcasting to continue telling powerful stories?
I cannot recall anticipating three new releases by my favorite authors (plus Dan Heath’s Upstream) all at once. A short preview of each book is below:
Wherever there is human judgment, there is Noise
Noise, A Flaw in Human Judgement by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass Sunstein will without a doubt, leave another large impact addressing behavioral science.
Daniel’s Thinking Fast and Slow is an amazing look at how we make decisions. I really enjoyed reading Nudge by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler. Many are looking forward to learning more about why do people make bad judgments? I am anticipating to read how through controlling both noise and cognitive bias, better decisions can developed.
The censored news out of China was terrifying
The Premonition, A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis is focusing on the global pandemic and should be very thought provoking. He too provides rich insights in his stories. In fact, as a bonus to his podcast Against The Rules listeners, Michael reads a full chapter from the book. The podcast episode includes the voice of Charity Dean, former Assistant Director of the California Department of Public Health. Her story is amazing. And she is just one medical visionaries featured in the book.
My favorite books by Michael include The Big Short, Flash Boys, Moneyball, and The Undoing Project. In addition, the focus of The Undoing Project was Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.
Exploring how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war
Undoubtedly Malcolm Gladwell tells very powerful stories with rich and unique insights. I am certainly expecting The Bomber Mafia, A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War to be just as intriguing as his books.
Likewise, upon quick reflection his books that I continue to reference and re-discover include: The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, David and Goliath, and his 2019 book Talking to Strangers.
A Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen
Accordingly, one of my favorite authors are Dan and Chip Heath. Dan recently released Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen. Dan explores how to prevent problems before they happen. He has collected insights from hundreds of interviews with unconventional problem solvers. It is surprising to realize I first read Made to Stick almost 15 years ago. Their follow up book Switch was just as insightful. In fact just before the pandemic they released The Power of Moments, providing wonderful insights for organizations.
Clearly the next few months will provide a wonderful summer reading and learning experience.