Outsmart Your Instincts

The instinctive mental shortcuts that help humans flee danger can work against innovation, argue Adam Hansen, Edward Harrington and Beth Storz. These cognitive biases shape how people see and react to the world: new ideas look too risky, researchers discount data that does not fit their hypothesis, and like-minded enthusiasts can struggle to drive disruptive change because they all see things the same way. The authors, who work in innovation, combine behavioral science with business practice in a model they call Behavioral Innovation. They examine eight biases that get in the way of creative thinking, among them negativity, confirmation and conformity, and offer activities and advice for overcoming them and breaking with the status quo.

Bryan Callen, co-host of The Fighter and the Kid, named it among great books he had been reading, in his Top Three Must Reads recommendations.