Margaret Heffernan is known for her ability to connect complex ideas into compelling narratives. Her work often delves into human behavior, exploring how we see and fail to see, and the power of collaboration within organizations. Heffernan approaches her writing with clarity and depth, offering readers fresh perspectives on common challenges. Her texts are provocative and inspiring, encouraging reflection on how we can improve our decision-making and relationships.
How Writers, Musicians and Artists Thrive in an Unpredictable World
192 pages
7 hours of reading
The book explores the human aversion to uncertainty, highlighting how it contributes to stress and anxiety. It discusses the irony of seeking certainty through technology, which often leads to dependency and increased anxiety instead. By examining our relationship with uncertainty, the author encourages readers to confront their fears and embrace the unknown, suggesting that acceptance of uncertainty can lead to personal growth and resilience.
Get into the best schools. Land your next big promotion. Dress for success. Run faster. Play tougher. Work harder. Keep score. And whatever you do make sure you win.
Competition runs through every aspect of our lives today. From the cubicle to the race track, in business and love, religion and science, what matters now is to be the biggest, fastest, meanest, toughest, richest. The upshot of all these contests? As Margaret Heffernan shows, competition regularly backfires, producing an explosion of cheating, corruption, inequality, and risk. The demolition derby of modern life has damaged our ability to work together. But it doesn't have to be this way. CEOs, scientists, engineers, investors, and inventors around the world are pioneering better ways to create great products, build enduring businesses, and grow relationships. Their secret? Generosity. Trust. Time. Theater.
From the cranberry bogs of Massachusetts to the classrooms of Singapore and Finland, from tiny start-ups to global engineering firms and beloved American organizations, Heffernan discovers ways of living and working that foster creativity, spark innovation, reinforce our social fabric, and feel so much better than winning.
