Humility Is the New Smart: Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age

by Edward D. Hess, Katherine Ludwig

Humility Is the New Smart

Your job is at risk—if not now, then soon. We are on the leading edge of a Smart Machine Age led by artificial intelligence that will be as transformative for us as the Industrial Revolution was for our ancestors. Smart machines will take over millions of jobs in manufacturing, office work, the service sector, the professions, you name it. Not only can they know more data and analyze it faster than any mere human, say Edward Hess and Katherine Ludwig, but smart machines are free of the emotional, psychological, and cultural baggage that so often mars human thinking.

So we can’t beat ’em and we can’t join ’em. To stay relevant, we have to play a different game. Hess and Ludwig offer us that game plan. We need to excel at critical, creative, and innovative thinking and at genuinely engaging with others—things machines can’t do well. The key is to change our definition of what it means to be smart. Hess and Ludwig call it being NewSmart. In this extraordinarily timely book, they offer detailed guidance for developing NewSmart attitudes and four critical behaviors that will help us adapt to the new reality.

The crucial mindset underlying NewSmart is humility—not self-effacement but an accurate self-appraisal: acknowledging you can’t have all the answers, remaining open to new ideas, and committing yourself to lifelong learning. Drawing on extensive multidisciplinary research, Hess and Ludwig emphasize that the key to success in this new era is not to be more like the machines but to excel at the best of what makes us human.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Psychology, Self Help, Leadership, Philosophy, Artificial Intelligence

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 16, 2017

About the author

Professor Edward D. Hess spent more than 30 years in the business world. He began his career at Atlantic Richfield Corporation and was a senior executive at Warburg Paribas Becker, Boettcher & Company, the Robert M. Bass Group and Arthur Andersen. He is the author of ten books, over 60 practitioner articles, and over 60 Darden cases, etc. dealing with growth systems, managing growth and growth strategies. His books include Hess and Liedtka, The Physics of Business Growth: Mindsets, System and Processes (Stanford University Press, 2012); Grow to Greatness: Smart Growth for Entrepreneurial Businesses (Stanford University Press, 2012); Growing an Entrepreneurial Business: Concepts & Cases (Stanford University Press, February, 2011); Smart Growth: Building Enduring Businesses by Managing the Risks of Growth (Columbia Business School Publishing, 2010); Hess and Goetz, So You Want to Start A Business (FT Press, 2008); The Road To Organic Growth (McGraw-Hill, 2007); Hess and Cameron, eds., Leading with Values: Virtue, Positivity & High Performance (Cambridge University Press, 2006); Hess and Kazanjian, eds., The Search for Organic Growth (Cambridge University Press, 2006).

Smart Growth was named a Top 25 2010 business book for business owners by Inc. Magazine and was awarded the Wachovia Award for Research Excellence.

His current research focuses on the Darden Growth/Innovation Model, the challenges of managing private company growth, growth systems and behaviors. Hess has taught in Executive Education programs for Harris Corporation, Cigna, Timken, United Technologies, Genworth Financial, Pitney Bowes, Unilever Russia, Westinghouse Nuclear, Alpha Natural Resources, Alegco-Scotsman, FTI Consulting, Dover Corporation, Glen Raven Corporation as well as IESE (Barcelona) and the Indian School of Business.

Hess's work has appeared in Fortune magazine, JiJi Press, Washington Post, the Financial Times, Investor's Business Daily, CFO Review, Money magazine and in more than 300 other media publications as well as on CNBC, BusinessWeek.com, Fox Business News, Forbes.com, Big Think, Reuters.com., Inc.com, WSJ Radio, Bloomberg Radio, Dow Jones, MSNBC Radio, Huffington Post.com, Business Insider.com and Chief Learning Officer.com.

Prior to joining the faculty at Darden, he was Adjunct Professor and the Founder and Executive Director of both the Center for Entrepreneurship and Corporate Growth and the Values-Based Leadership Institute at Goizueta Business School, Emory University.

Reviews

[Daniel Lambauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

got three stars for me as it is a good, easy to read summary of range of organisational and psychological theories , so something you can again refer to. however, it is not in original, as far as i could see based on very limited primary research and the constant references to the authors experiences (in a book about humility!!) leave one quite exasperated. however completely agree with the central tenents of the book.

[Sophia Exintaris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too verbose, and sales-y. Made it to 37% before deciding I'd rather be doing something else. Anything else. Except reading more of this.

Abandoning a book is rare for me (1 in 40?), so that should say something about what I think of it.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t understand the relevancy of the subtitle - Rethinking Human Intelligence in the Smart Machine Age. This has nothing to do with the smart machine age (SMA). This is just a book about mindfulness and emotional intelligence. You could literally replace SMA with almost anything and you’ll get the same book. Rethinking Human Intelligence at Large Family Gatherings? Same book.

It also has that horribly cliched line that we all learn to not use back in high school:

- The Oxford English Dictionary defines it [critical thinking] as “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.”

Lol

This isn’t a bad book. The central ideas of quieting ego, reflective listening, mindfulness, building emotional connections, are all important. It’s just like any self-help book, I suppose. Just dressed up with a semi provocative title.

[Andrew Carr · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I buy the general argument (A more reflective, evolving mindset is necessary for getting the best out of man-machine relations), I found the argument for it somewhat uninspiring. This is very much a business book, however much it's wrapped in the framework of how to deal with Artificial Intelligence.

There are 4 key precepts of their 'New Smart' model:
* I am not my ideas;
* I must de-couple my beliefs, but not my values from my ego.
* My mental models are not reality; they’re only my generalized stories of how the world works.
* I must be open-minded and treat my beliefs — not my values — as hypotheses to be constantly tested and subject to modification by better data"

While these ideas get some exposition early on, there isn't much effort to demonstrate they are necessarily right, other than a few quick references to academic studies and series of business stories from Hess (though there are two authors, seemingly all the anecdotes are from the bloke). After outlining these approaches - all fine and useful in my view- the book seems to run out of steam and muddles through offering general good business practice analysis as it peters out.

Is humility the new smart? Yes. But I bought the book because I already thought so, and I'm not sure my thinking has moved much further on from the title. But maybe that's not humble enough of me to say.

[Sarah Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an eye-opener! I listened to this, but there are so many simple but necessary ideas inside this book that I want to buy it to set goals and use as a reference. If you think you need any amount of humility in your life, you should read this book.

[Martti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Research suggests that, within 15 years, roughly half of all jobs will be automated. What will be the competitive differentiator for employers when raw technology is cheap and widely available? I believe it will be the quality of your human workforce—having employees who are able to think, relate and learn continuously.

Humility is often reflected in modesty, but the reverse is not necessarily true.

We have found that the most effective way to quiet our ego is through practising mindfulness. In mindfulness, we start to see the world as it is, not as we expect it to be, how we wanted to be, or what we fear it might become.

Thinking toolbox.

* Root cause analysis: what is the real problem or the real cause? This analysis commonly uses the “Five Whys” – a process of asking why something happened and then asking why that happened repeatedly at least five times to get to the root cause.
* Unpacking the assumptions: What assumptions and inferences am I making? For each assumption, am I making further assumptions? What data do I have to support those assumptions? What facts would disprove these assumptions? Have I search for those facts?
* If-then thinking: if I do this, then what is likely to happen? What then could happen?

Listen Reflectively

* Is my mind clear? If not, take several deep, slow breaths.
* Am I currently emotional? If not, take a few more deep breaths, focusing on breathing in for four seconds and very, very slowly breathing out for four seconds.
* Say to yourself a couple of times:
“I am not my ideas.”
“It’s not all about me.”
“Don’t be defensive.”
“Ask questions before telling.”
“Don’t interrupt.”
“Stay focused.”
“Critique ideas, not people.”
“Listen to understand, not to confirm.”

Emotionally Connecting and Relating - Shortlist before a meeting
* be present
* Genuinely smile – a big smile, make eye contact
* communicate affirmation
* listen effectively/reflectively
* communicate support, do no harm

Feeling psychologically safe enables people to (1) seek constructive feedback and challenges to their thinking and (2) feel safe giving feedback and challenging others' thinking, including higher-ups in the organization. Feeling safe enables speaking up, having the courage to try new things, and behaving in ways that reflect NewSmart. Feeling safe is required for curiosity and having the courage to explore and innovate. Feeling safe means that you feel that your boss, your employer, and your colleagues will do you no harm as you try to learn.

More notes by Shaun Coffey - https://shauncoffey.blog/2020/05/24/h...

[Whitney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe in print this was 2 stars but the audio brought it down to one. I've never had to listen to a book in 15 minute increments because the repetitive prose and the audiobook narration were so terrible.

[Nicole Means · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book was quite a humbling experience because it forced me to assess and reflect upon my strengths and weakness. The age of the know-it-all
Is over, and humility is moving in! One reviewer stated that they felt exasperated reading this book because they felt the continuous reference to the author’s experiences took away from the message of the book. However, I believe the inclusion of the author’s experiences was to share his own path. I found that the author’s transparency helped me reflect as well. I will definitely take the ideas from this book into my own school setting. Humility so the new smart!

[Caleb Bayles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome, if you are afraid of AI taking your job read this and it will tell you how society needs to change it’s skill set to adapt with it.

[Gato Negro · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a nutshell, how to work with high functioning humanoid robots, machines that think, & technology and maintain your humanity.

[David Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite Quote = “Humility is the beginning of true intelligence.”

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The approach that the authors advocate here is a better, more humane way to go about business, even if Smart Machines weren't coming. Given that they are, there are few paths forward that make more sense than what we have here.

As I read the book, it struck me that emotional intelligence, in being branded as its own kind of intelligence, is perhaps being done a disservice, and I believe we're seeing ample evidence of intelligence stripped of emotional intelligence coming off as dumb as gypsum. We undoubtedly need some renegotiation of the language and hierarchy between garden-variety intelligence and emotional intelligence. Old smart really is the new dumb.

Read the book so that you can reflect and then start to read it again. I am concerned that we are not nearly ready enough for the Smart Machine Age. But we can be.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn about how to review this as I don't believe audio was the right way to consume this book. There's a lot of lists and self-assessment checklists that I definitely think it would be more beneficial to peruse physically. I thought this had some interesting ideas about the skills and mindsets that will be more prevalent in the "Smart Machine Age". When most jobs are automated where in the workforce will humans exist/thrive? What can we do now to prepare for those changes?
The book was constantly referencing the works of others: Creativity, Inc; Learn or Die, etc that reference the work cultures of major corporations that embody the 'new smart' ideals. It seemed more a study of those particular business leaders and how to be more like them rather than give practical advise to a worker.The latter half of the book was just general leadership advice: practice mindful meditation, control your emotions, learn how to effectively listen, care about your employees as people, and promote life-long learning-- the essential jist.
I first found it ironically amusing and then annoying the amount of time the phrase "I, Ed..." was used in the chapter about minimizing ego. I thought the personal example of the author's introduction to meditation was unnecessary and boring. Largely, saying he was skeptical too, it was hard at first, ended up changing his life. Also in 2021, no one is learning meditation from a book.

These businesses are referenced constantly: Google, Pixar, Bridgewater Associates, Starbucks, United Parcel Service, Sysco, W. L. Gore & Associates, IDEO, Southwest Airlines, and the US Marine Corps. And usually listed exactly like that but I believe they only go in depth about how Google, Pixar, and Bridgewater accomplish their objectives and largely by referencing books written by their CEOs. I imagine those books to be more useful to read on their own.

[Lloyd Downey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This review is based on the Blinkist version of the book...thus a summary and my review needs to be qualified as such. Presumably the original full text has much more details and research.....but it also takes much longer to read. If I like the Blinkist version, I might seek out and read the full book. Meantime here are a few nuggets that particularly struck me: We’re quickly approaching one of the modern defining eras: the Smart Machine Age, or SMA. This term describes a time when machines will become increasingly capable of performing complex tasks and nonroutine work–jobs that once required human labor.
What does this mean for humans?.....A 2013 study done by researchers at Oxford University found an extreme likelihood that as many as 47 percent of US jobs will be replaced by technology within the next two decades. So human success in the SMA depends on a whole new approach; we must be NewSmart.....Our options are either to complement the work of machines or do the work they can’t, which includes critical thinking, emotional engagement and creative practices. [This might just be wishful thinking....I’ve little doubt that AI will soon be doing these sorts of things]....However, in a society that’s hyperfocused on competition, aggression and individual success, we’re often too self-involved and fixed in our beliefs to be adept at such skills.......We will only excel when we learn to collaborate, an ability that enables greater critical thinking, emotional engagement and creativity. [It’s not clear to me that he’s correct in these claims and there is no evidence here anyway to back up the claims].
So what skills are key to success in the Smart Machine Age?
1. Well, the first is known as quieting ego........the ability to trim back your emotional defensiveness, directing empathy toward others by letting your guard down
2. In addition to quieting your ego, you should also focus on managing self. This means fostering a healthy and controlled approach to your thoughts and feelings. Without this skill, you’ll grow preoccupied with your fears and insecurities,
3. The third skill you need is reflective listening, which is a way to free your thoughts and perceptions of the world, and transcend your cognitive and emotional biases. Reflective listening is about taking the time to truly understand other people and their ideas.
4. And finally, to succeed in the SMA, you need to master otherness. This skill simply refers to the ability to establish strong connections with other people. In the SMA, a focus on creative thinking and emotional connection is of the utmost importance
For the vast majority of us, our worldview doesn’t sync well with the skills required by the SMA. To overcome this obstacle, you’ve got to change your mental model. The mental model is the sum total of your personal ideas, beliefs and perceptions of the world.
Our past world was all about individualism and competition, which are anathema to the skills that will benefit you in the SMA. So success means updating your mental model, and the name of the game here is humility. Humility is the foundation for the ideal SMA mental model......Humility is an attitude that lets you operate in a self-accurate, open-minded way that focuses on others, rather than on yourself. The idea isn’t to act selflessly or think less of yourself; rather, humility will help you think less about yourself......you need to quiet the ego and the best way to do so is through mindfulness.
Mindfulness is simply about paying attention; it means purposefully noticing the present moment in a nonjudgmental way. Employing this practice is simple: Get into a comfortable position.....Then, focus your attention and awareness on one thing and one thing alone. [I’ve just read another book about mindfulness and the words here are virtually identical with what is in the other book.....seems like somebody is copying here....and anyway, mindfulness is not without it’s critics. One of the criticism is that Mindfulness is really just about concentration and rather than address the work environments etc that are causing stress, mindfulness is simply saying we should just learn to cope rather than correcting the root cause]. .......From there, it’s but a hop, skip and jump to mastering self-management.
The reality is that slowing down is essential to your success in the SMA as it will allow you to act and think deliberately........slowing down makes it easier to know when to switch from autopilot to intentional thinking mode.
Use simple tools to listen to others and greet them with your full attention.....How do you become a reflective listener? Getting started is as simple as focusing on the other person, keeping an open mind and asking clarifying questions.....[This is pretty much just a re-run of what Dale Carnegie was saying 60 years ago].........But you should also prepare yourself to listen reflectively using a more pragmatic approach: a checklist. Make one for yourself by writing down every aspect that you consider key to your ability to listen reflectively. You might put down things like, “don’t interrupt immediately” or “don’t allow focus to drift.”
And of course, you’ve got to develop your ability to connect emotionally with others. To do so, indicate to other people that you’re present and listening, using both verbal and nonverbal cues.
The key message in this book: For better or for worse, a new age is dawning on humanity: an age dominated by machines. To succeed in this new time, humans need to focus on the attributes that distinguish us from machines; we’ve got to focus on emotional connection and collaboration, and on the creative thinking that these two activities give rise to.
My take on the book. Disappointing. Some fairly bold claims being made there about what’s needed for the future but no real evidence to back it up. And nothing much that’s new there in terms of the coping mechanisms: mindfulness (see my comments above) and a re-run of how to win friends and influence people. I actually Googled the author and found he is a very prolific producer of books like this. Clearly he has mastered the art of writing books that sell but if they are all rather superficial, like this (and the titles seem to indicate that they are), then I’m not impressed. One star from me.

[Said · Rating 2 out of 5]

It should have been titled "Random thoughts of an old MBA professor"

The book reads like a random rambling speech of an old MBA professor during a class. A professor who talks about humility but who can't stop dropping names. The only original contribution of the authors seems to be naming the rise of AI as "SMA" (the abbreviated version of Smart Machine Age, really lame). Otherwise, as they also readily admit, they just read a few hundred articles and about 40 books and just compiled some ideas that they thought, without any real structure. I think it's a complete waste of time. Instead, just read Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow" and Ray Dalio's "Principles: Life and Work."

The only reason why I didn't give one star is that there actually are some nice parts that they took from those other articles and books but it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

[Pete Zilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book.... but it just didn't do anything for me. It felt like it tried to be a book on AI/Automation, business, and self-help - and didn't solidly land on any of those. It wasn't that it was bad, I just didn't find it all that useful and I won't be recommending it to anyone.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humans are not thinking machines that feel, we are feeling machines that think secondary.

Strength based jobs were eventually replaced by brains. In the future, the brain will be outweighed by the heart.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars - mainly because it struck a chord - I personally needed to read this book. Impressed at the depth of citation and study that supported the authors’ analysis.

[Bob Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for a new way to think about things? Wanting to figure out what the future may hold for your business or organization? Then ed Hess and Katherine Ludwig might be be able to help you understand that with Humility is the New Smart.

The Smart Machine Age (SMA) is upon us, begin the authors. Much like the Terminators of yesteryear, these machines will largely replace huge portions of the workforce (unlike the Terminators, they will not kill everyone). How will organizations and leaders emerge during this new SMA? By thinking in new ways say the authors.

Intelligence used to be measured by how much you know. However with machines now capable of knowing more than you can ever possibly know, intelligence needs a makeover. For the authors, this Newsmart can be discovered by humility.

Humility here is not being meek or mild or thinking worse of yourself. Rather, humility is having a better sense of who you are, your limitations and being opened minded to others. This humility will seek a team approach rather than an individual win. As a result, organizations that are designed on this approach will be more team-centered, psychologically safe and open to innovation.

Much of the book is written to describe what the authors mean by humility and the practices they embrace: Quieting Ego, Managing Self, Reflective Listening, and Otherness. As they unpack these behaviors, the reader can understand more fully what they mean.

The book also provides an assessment tool. This tool is ok, but please keep in mind that none of this is empirically verified. There is no hard science behind this book. There is a great deal of anecdotal evidence, but no true hard science. As a result, this book may be dismissed by many as pop psychology.

There is a richness to the book and much of what they discuss will not be new to contemplative thinkers or those familiar with the mindfulness traditions. As such, if you are familiar with these traditions, you may find yourself humming along with the authors melodic notes.

The book is simply written which makes it ideal for a wide audience. It at times is repetitive in word choice an in phrasing.

With all of that said, there is much to learn from this little book about how we think about ourselves and others. If anything, this book will help encourage you to challenge the way you think and the way that you conduct yourself.

I recommend this book to those who are looking for self-improvement or who want to study on new leadership philosophy.

Grade: B+

[Landon Shimpa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This, ultimately, was not quite what I expected. HItNS begins with a heavy emphasis on our impending economic change, driven primarily by "Smart Machines". I am well aware, from this literature and others, that we will experience drastic developments in the way that our economy functions. We are not ready for the Smart Machine Age, but it is upon us. This section got a bit tedious and had a tendency to say the same thing several different ways before moving on. It wore on me, but I understood the point that it wanted to drive home.

What follows is much less focused on our future working with Smart Machines, and more of a guide on how to approach a new way of thinking. HItNS suggests that humanity needs to re-evaluate how it thinks of "Smart" actions/individuals. This requires a systematic change in the way many communicate with themselves and others. The book spends plenty of time asking the reader to reflect on each chapter, and has specific post-content questions. I liked this format, and if I gave a couple minutes to reflect on each chapter, I found that I absorbed its messages in a more meaningful way.

Overall, I liked this book quite a bit. I plan on re-reading it when I get my new journal, and I will try to answer each question with deliberate, slow thought.

[Avolyn Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I took some great insight from this book. Is it perhaps already a little dated being six years old? Perhaps. Although it seems even more relevant now than when it was published since we've entered the post-ChatGPT era. Is this book a little long winded and overly wordy? Yes. Will it be repetitive if you've already read Creativity, Inc or Thinking Fast and Slow, and the like, yes. But I think it was a nice summation and refresher since I read those books years ago.

It seems a fair amount of people have come out to criticize the fact that this book isn't about AI or smart machines but rather, it's about emotional intelligence. But I have to wonder what else they thought this would be about. As the authors note, we will reach a point where we can't outsmart the machine so any self help book will surely not guide someone to attempt to do that. When focusing on what we can control, our emotional intelligence and ability to work with others is just about the only thing. So absent further clarification on their expectations I'm truly at a loss for what one would expect this book to be about.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Humility Is the New Smart’ posits that, with AI poised to eliminate millions and millions of jobs in the coming decades, “smart” isn’t enough to succeed in today’s or tomorrow’s career environment. In a world in which AI will be able to access and synthesize information much more rapidly than an human can, tomorrow’s premium will be placed on the people who can work well in teams, keep their egos separate from their ideas, and create.

As you may imagine, this book is geared toward people working in the knowledge economy: roofers may not be particularly worried about AI. Nevertheless, this book does offer a gloss on the contemporary business and leadership literary landscape, leaning particularly hard on Kahneman’s ‘Thinking Fast and Slow.’ Even if you aren’t a knowledge worker, even if you aren’t particularly worried about AI’s impact on your field, you can learn some lessons from ‘Humility Is the New Smart.’

[Bryan Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up because there was a book club group at work that was going to go through it. I didn't participate in the club, but the title was catchy enough that I wanted to read it on my own so influenced the local library to get a copy and then read through it.

Nothing too earth shattering, but does get you to stop at think. In short it validates the increased focus that must be given to the people in our lives and the relationship we have with them and put them over the relationships we have with technology. Technology is a tool and due to capabilities it can possess that humans cannot do as fast or as accurately the argument is that we need to focus on each other and then build upon our relationships to create solutions.

[Chris Boutté · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book and one that you should definitely read if you want to become a better thinker and avoid thinking errors that we’re all susceptible to. Hess and Ludwig premise the book by discussing how AI and machines are going to start taking jobs (and already have), so becoming a better thinker is going to make you more valuable in the workplace.

Personally, since I read a ton of books on this topic, there wasn’t much new, but I still really enjoyed the book because it has everything a book like this needs. It has a ton of research and studies as well as stories. I’m not a fan of how often people use Ray Dalio in books like this, but I forgive the authors for doing so. It’s for sure worth the read.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A necessary book that many many more people need to begin applying. Organizations that cannot follow the simple precepts laid out will not—and deserve to not—survive into the not too distant future. Points taken off for two glaringly obvious typos. Nothing groundbreaking for me from this book, but useful for guiding others.

The quote in the book that resonated most with me: “Talented humans will be in high demand globally and will likely place higher value on the meaningfulness of work and on their own growth and development than on the location of work or their longevity of employment with any one employer.”

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hess makes the argument that what we've typically valued as intelligence in humans is changing with the invention of artificial intelligence and I couldn't agree more. For example, it doesn't matter how much you can memorize or necessarily if you can remember the Pythagorean theorem because no matter how much you remember or what random math formulas you can pack your head with AI will be able to remember more and go through the math faster than you can. It doesn't mean that there won't be new things we value in humans, but that those things have changed and we're slow to adapt to it. I think this is completely true.

[Todd Cheng · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good summary of a collection management themes across successful and productive fields. The core take away is that listening, not knowing, collaboration, failing, humility, and the human in the organization is more critical now with the rise of smarter technology. We need to get better at doing what technology can’t. This is a significant change. It is being discussed in the mix of the rise of technology across all fields. The value of innovation is in the humans of the organization and the ability to learn and adopt.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb optimization guidebook for dedicated individual learners and business alike...

This book is an invaluable resource for all those seeking to learn how to get smarter and reach their full potential. On top of that, it is full course in bringing a business up to the next next level to stay relevant and make astronomical advances immediately and well into the Smart Machine Age. Should be on every top executive's desk until they incorporate Humility and NewSmart into their business's basic structure. Highly recommended!!!

[Sam Hagadorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

My problem with this book is my problem with most business or self-help books. A quote from the book (from another author Herbert Simon):

“The principles of good management are simple, even trivial. They are not widely practiced for the same reason that Christianity is not widely practiced. It is not enough to know what the principles are; you must acquire deeply ingrained habits of carrying them out, in the face of all sorts of strong urges to stray onto more comfortable and pleasant paths”

[Nick Rauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a self-proclaimed data geek that loves to read, I must say that I loved how much reference material is supplied in this book and its arguments. Sometimes I wished the idea or concept was fleshed out a bit more when referring to an external text but they always provided the cliff notes.

The last chapter on Google and Pixar was such a GREAT way to close things out.

Overall, a thought provoking quick read that I’m sure I’ll reference and recommend in the future.