The Power of Noticing

What the Best Leaders See

By: Max Bazerman

Narrated by: Holter Graham

From Harvard Business School professor and co-director of the Harvard Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership: a guide to making better decisions, noticing important information in the world around you, and improving leadership skills.

Imagine your advantage in negotiations, decision-making, and leadership if you could teach yourself to see, and evaluate, information that others overlook. The Power of Noticing provides the blueprint for accomplishing precisely that. Max Bazerman, an expert in the field of applied behavioral psychology, draws on three decades of research and his experience instructing Harvard Business School MBAs and corporate executives to teach you how to notice and act on information that may not be immediately obvious.

Drawing on a wealth of real-world examples, from the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster to Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, Bazerman diagnoses what information went ignored in these situations, and why. Using many of the same case studies and thought experiments designed in his executive MBA classes, he challenges listeners to explore their cognitive blind spots, identify any salient details they are programmed to miss, and then take steps to ensure it won’t happen again. While many best-selling business books have explained how susceptible to manipulation our irrational cognitive blind spots make us, Bazerman helps you avoid the habits that lead to poor decisions and ineffective leadership in the first place. His book provides a step-by-step guide to breaking bad habits and spotting the hidden details that will change your decision-making and leadership skills for the better, teaching you to: pay attention to what didn’t happen; acknowledge self-interest; invent the third choice; and realize that what you see is not all there is.

With The Power of Noticing at your side, you can learn how to notice what others miss, make better decisions, and lead more successfully.

©2014 Max Bazerman (P)2014 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

No magic formula but and interesting book

The book mainly talks about why we don't notice with very little of the book telling you how to notice. I'd still recommend the book, but basically the book tell you what not to do to miss something. This is hard, but worth reading and practicing.

Not sure

The content is not bad, the author does provide useful insights and advice. However, 'usable' information starts only in chapter 4 or 5. The first ones talk about the greatness of the author, about stories which have way too much detail and are a waste of time. I am glad I eventually made it through these first chapters, but i was seriously considering to quit several times.
The narrator's voice is fine apart from when he tried to speak in a special or low voice...which felt me willing to switch to smth else.

Compelling, disturbing, empowering

If only more high level leaders would, if not able to view and assess all available data, listen to team members who see the ground data on a daily basis.

Bad audio and felt the book doesn't deliver what it promises

The audio on this book is pretty bad. Not only does the mic seem to go in and out of intensity, but the speaker has a weird cadence. It took a lot of will power just to get through the audiobook on this alone. I also felt that the book highlighted quite a bit about the power of overlooking key concepts - or being too afraid to speak up, but it really wasn't until the end that he talks about how to not overlook things.

Helpful intelligent information.

I highly recommend this book. It's a great balance between academic information, stories and examples. Highly intelligent. I recommend this to anyone wishing to look at their life and/or their business from a different perspective. The audio is a little uneven but not enough to affect hearing it clearly.

Disappointing book

What disappointed you about The Power of Noticing?

There is nothing new here. What we read/hear is stories about past events (that we already knew) with little rigorous, new observations about how to "notice." This book is a compilation of press releases at best.

What was most disappointing about Max Bazerman’s story?

Max's experience is highlighted. Very little to no insight about noticing. The title of the book is disconnected from its contents.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Power of Noticing?

I would spend much more time on what we should be noticing today about possible future events. Give us insight about how to notice about what we are facing now. For example, the auto industry is undergoing disruption now. What should we be noticing - now.

Any additional comments?

Very disappointing book - I would not recommend this.

People suck at noticing

Anecdotes of people who did not notice and the incentives that made them act the way they did. Pay attention to incentives.