Sunday, March 24, 2013

Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work review

Research in psychology has revealed that our decisions are disrupted by an array of biases and irrationalities: We’re overconfident. We seek out information that supports us and downplay information that doesn’t. We get distracted by short-term emotions. When it comes to making choices, it seems, our brains are flawed instruments. Unfortunately, merely being aware of these shortcomings doesn’t fix the problem, any more than knowing that we are nearsighted helps us to see. The real question is: How can we do better?

My Review:
This book was really insightful for me. I tend to make decisions really fast, and my hubby is the same way. We very rarely plan. This book gave me ways to change my thinking when I am faced with a choice. The book then went on to show me how to use the ways they suggest. They are easy, straight forward, and easy to follow. I have already started implementing some of the suggestions in every day easy choices.
This book also gave examples about people making right decisions and bad decisions in business. I really enjoyed reading about companies and it made the book more enjoyable to read. I definitely recommend this book for anyone that makes fast decisions. I also recommend this book for procrastinators because I think it will help people to make up their minds better. I am giving this book a 4/5 because it was very informative and easy to read, but it really didn't have an over the top feel for me. I will be using what I read in the book though!
The Heath Brothers:
Chip Heath is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, teaching courses on business strategy and organizations. He is the co-author (along with his brother, Dan) of three books. They will launch their newest book, Decisive: How to Make Better Decisions in Life and Work in March 2013. Their 2010 book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, debuted at #1 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Their first book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, was a New York Times and Business Week bestseller, and was an Amazon Top 10 Business Book for 2007 for both editors and readers. Their books have been translated into 28 languages including Thai, Arabic, and Lithuanian. Chip has consulted with clients ranging from Google and Gap to The Nature Conservancy and the American Heart Association. His parents are just happy that their sons are playing well together.

Dan Heath is a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports social entrepreneurs. He is the co-author of Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, as well as two previous New York Times bestsellers, Switch and Made to Stick. Amazon.com’s editors named Switch one of the Best Nonfiction Books of the Year, and it spent 47 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list. Made to Stick was named the Best Business Book of the Year and spent 24 months on the BusinessWeek bestseller list. Both books have been translated into over 25 languages.
Previously, Dan worked as a researcher and case writer for Harvard Business School. In 1997, Dan co-founded an innovative publishing company called Thinkwell, which continues to produce a radically reinvented line of college textbooks.
Dan has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the Plan II Honors Program from the University of Texas at Austin. Two proud (sort of) moments for Dan are his stint driving a promotional car called the “Brainmobile” across the country and his victory in the 2005 New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest, beating out 13,000 other entrants. He lives in Raleigh, NC

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