Written By: Randy Park
Reviewed By: Glain Roberts-McCabe
The Premise: In a follow-up to his earlier work in Thinking for Results, consultant and author Randy Park explores how we think… specifically as it relates to forecasting into the future. Park’s assertion is that, when it comes to creating future plans, we have a tendency to fall into what he terms “predicition traps”. Prediction traps cause us to ignore key pieces of information which can often lead to dire consequences (can anyone say US housing meltdown?). Parks book helps you identify traps in your thinking that may ultimately prevent you from charting the best course forward. He provides several tools throughout the book with even more available on his website.
The Bottom-line: I found Parks book to be, overall, an interesting read. The information included on how we develop and get blocked by our own personal filters was very enlightening and certainly useful for anyone in a leadership role. Anyone looking to add more skills to their personal leadership and thinking toolkit would benefit from the ideas, tools and stories shared. However, in my opinion, the “stand out” piece in this book is Park’s unabashed call for readers to consider the long-term consequences as it relates to tackling some of our most pressing societal issues. My own thinking was stretched around what I, as a business leader, could and should be doing to impact issues like energy consumption and climate change. Park challenges us to think beyond the boundaries of profit and loss to look at larger, long-term implications for our business decisions. Bravo.
