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albcorp's review against another edition
2.0
An excellent apologia for performance review, not an account of the science of self-awareness as claimed in the blurb. This is not Thinking, Fast and Slow for self-awareness.
If you live in the USA, are a managerial worker, and want to get more out of performance reviews then you will get a lot out of this book. Otherwise, if you hoped to learn something about the science of self-awareness, then you will likely be disappointed, because after reading this book I still do not know what that means and whether there genuinely is an established science on the subject.
I suspect after reading this book that there is not such a thing. Instead, the author has used this device to cohere a lot of helpful insights on how we can reflect on our behaviour. I base this suspicion on the lack of references to other researchers in the field beyond well known results that are only tangentially connected, and upon the basic problem with the material, namely that it fails to sufficiently distinguish between the in-the-present nature of awareness and the upon-reflection nature of assessment.
The account is further undermined by extensive anecdotes and overly stretched metaphors. The anecdotes are particularly problematic, because they are so clearly fictional. In particular, they are just too neat, employ an all seeing narrator, and trade almost exclusively in stereotypes. In person, they are probably great ice breakers. As part of a text, they weaken the case being made. This problem is worst in the opening and closing portions. Lacking a rich source material the final chapter devolved into a folksy and glib stoicism for dealing with self absorbed people.
UPDATE: For a superb book that does explain why we are not self aware see [b:The Enigma of Reason|32336635|The Enigma of Reason|Hugo Mercier|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1488567927s/32336635.jpg|52973807].
If you live in the USA, are a managerial worker, and want to get more out of performance reviews then you will get a lot out of this book. Otherwise, if you hoped to learn something about the science of self-awareness, then you will likely be disappointed, because after reading this book I still do not know what that means and whether there genuinely is an established science on the subject.
I suspect after reading this book that there is not such a thing. Instead, the author has used this device to cohere a lot of helpful insights on how we can reflect on our behaviour. I base this suspicion on the lack of references to other researchers in the field beyond well known results that are only tangentially connected, and upon the basic problem with the material, namely that it fails to sufficiently distinguish between the in-the-present nature of awareness and the upon-reflection nature of assessment.
The account is further undermined by extensive anecdotes and overly stretched metaphors. The anecdotes are particularly problematic, because they are so clearly fictional. In particular, they are just too neat, employ an all seeing narrator, and trade almost exclusively in stereotypes. In person, they are probably great ice breakers. As part of a text, they weaken the case being made. This problem is worst in the opening and closing portions. Lacking a rich source material the final chapter devolved into a folksy and glib stoicism for dealing with self absorbed people.
UPDATE: For a superb book that does explain why we are not self aware see [b:The Enigma of Reason|32336635|The Enigma of Reason|Hugo Mercier|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1488567927s/32336635.jpg|52973807].
christineyen's review against another edition
5.0
Reasons that a critic might hate this book:
- It's very explicit. There are no real analyses about the psychology or the theory or the "science" behind why we are the way we are; it only offers examples of a pathology and some concrete suggestions for paths forward.
- It's full of personal anecdotes and those of "self-awareness unicorns" (which itself might inspire a hearty eyeroll) for the purposes of illustrating a principle
- It summarizes key points at the end of each chapter, in a very workmanlike manner.
... I loved it. For those reasons. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ To each their own.
- It's very explicit. There are no real analyses about the psychology or the theory or the "science" behind why we are the way we are; it only offers examples of a pathology and some concrete suggestions for paths forward.
- It's full of personal anecdotes and those of "self-awareness unicorns" (which itself might inspire a hearty eyeroll) for the purposes of illustrating a principle
- It summarizes key points at the end of each chapter, in a very workmanlike manner.
... I loved it. For those reasons. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ To each their own.
hkburke2's review against another edition
3.0
This had some good info on how to receive feedback. Having taken college psych courses made most of the background information, and I felt a little condescended do with language like "insight unicorn" sprinkled throughout, but it was a decent compilation of relevant info if you want to improve yourself (mostly professionally).
laurengent's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
emira687's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
kristendom's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book that I checked out from the library and learned so much from that I then proceeded to purchase my own copy from Amazon. I can't speak highly enough of this book and how much it taught me about my own self-awareness and lack thereof. I'm excited to get the workbook and really try to actively work on this with myself - both at home and at work. And, to be fair, I've always considered myself pretty incredibly self-aware, but I can already see I have a lot more to learn in this area. So I'd highly recommend this book for just about everyone!
lauren_dots's review against another edition
5.0
Every human on earth needs to read this book(!!) since, as Dr Eurich explains, nearly every aspect of our life, from productivity to happiness, benefits from high self-awareness. Your friends, family, coworkers, fellow bus-goers, pets, etc will thank you for it.
So many self-help books are very ‘airy fairy’, as I like to call them, and give some good insights but are often dragged out into an acceptable book length without concrete, actionable information. Eurich’s book gets straight down to business using facts and real-life examples to help readers become more internally self-aware (knowing what you contribute and want to get out of the world), externally self-aware (know how others perceive you), and deal with the non-aware around us.
I would have given it 4.5 stars (the level/length of anecdotes gets a little tired by the end), but Eurich gives you several tools, reflection questions, etc to figure out *exactly* what YOU personally need to do to improve your self-awareness, which is what took it to 5 stars for me. She could have easily done a “join my 5.99/month club for more!” type of thing but makes all her resources free.
Thanks Tasha for making the world a better place, one ignorant busybody at a time!
So many self-help books are very ‘airy fairy’, as I like to call them, and give some good insights but are often dragged out into an acceptable book length without concrete, actionable information. Eurich’s book gets straight down to business using facts and real-life examples to help readers become more internally self-aware (knowing what you contribute and want to get out of the world), externally self-aware (know how others perceive you), and deal with the non-aware around us.
I would have given it 4.5 stars (the level/length of anecdotes gets a little tired by the end), but Eurich gives you several tools, reflection questions, etc to figure out *exactly* what YOU personally need to do to improve your self-awareness, which is what took it to 5 stars for me. She could have easily done a “join my 5.99/month club for more!” type of thing but makes all her resources free.
Thanks Tasha for making the world a better place, one ignorant busybody at a time!