Tag: psychology

Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck: Book Review

April 15, 2013 Book Reviews no comments

What are entrepreneurs and business builders made of? Who should you bring to your team at different stages of growth, and why?

The answers, according to venture capitalists and business leaders Anthony K. Tjan, Richard J. Harrington and Tsun-Yan Hsieh, are contained their book Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck (HSGL). Tackling the human aspect of entrepreneurship, leadership and management, the book surmised that each of us are biased towards one of four traits – namely heart, smarts, guts, or luck – in our decision-making processes.


How Pleasure Works – Book Review

January 25, 2013 Book Reviews no comments

Why does pain sometimes feel like pleasure? Why do we enjoy music and art even though there aren’t any adaptive advantages? When does “one man’s meat” become “another man’s poison”?

The answers to these human behavioural puzzles (and more) can be found in How Pleasure Works. Written by Yale’s evolutionary psychologist Paul Bloom, the book uncovers the “new science of why we like what we like”. By delving into the fields of anthropology, evolution, history, biology and psychology, the book investigates why we humans are so different compared to our fellow earthlings.