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Surprise

Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Surprise: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected is a fascinating look at how we can handle and harness surprise in our work, relationships, and everyday lives.

Pop quiz: Do you prefer when things go according to plan or when the unexpected happens?

Most of us pick control and predictability. Yet research reveals a counterintuitive truth: our best memories are the surprising ones. We feel most comfortable when things are certain, but we feel most alive when they're not. Surprise is also the little-known key to growth, attention, and connection. In Surprise, the authors present an unusual new perspective: by understanding the science of surprise, we can transform our work, relationships, and everyday life from ordinary to extraordinary.

Through colorful narratives and fascinating scientific findings, the authors shine a light on the world's least understood and most intriguing emotion. They reveal how shifting our perception of surprise lets us thrive in the face of uncertainty. And they show us how surprise acts as a shortcut that turns a typical product into a meaningful experience, a good idea into a viral one, awkward small talk into engaging conversation, and everyday life into an adventure.

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    • AudioFile Magazine
      It takes time for the ideas in this audiobook to take shape, but Tania Luna's authentic personal story and her sincere and vulnerable delivery will help listeners want to go along for the ride. Though she's not a professional narrator, she makes the material appealing because she's a true believer in the notion that learning how to handle surprise can help people create innovative products, make ideas go viral, and turn stale work relationships into energizing collaborations. The authors explain the science of surprise, often using colorful stories of resilience and Socratic questions to draw listeners into their thought processes. The book is an informative look at how to navigate the balance between the unsettling excitement of surprise and the boring predictability of life's routines. T.W. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 12, 2015
      This is a vibrant, readable foray into
      the potential and the proper place for surprise in our lives. Authors Renninger and Luna, founder and head of the culture department at LifeLabs New York respectively, prove both knowledgeable and
      personable guides. Through their animated narrative, we learn to see the world with fresh eyes, learning, for instance, of surprise’s possible evolutionary basis in the “fight or flight” instinct. Perhaps the book’s most appealing aspect is its lively presentation, which sprinkles the pages with inventive terms, from the Struggle Sandwich to the Surprise Seesaw, and visual components that clearly illustrate verbal concepts. Chapters are also punctuated by helpful “cheat sheets” that give synopses of the surprises therein. In a world that often seems keen on eliminating the unexpected with predictive technologies, this book suggests that an element of surprise might prove all the more necessary. As such, this entertaining, smartly packaged book leaves readers with a full set of practical tools geared toward making everyone surprise-seekers in their own lives. Agent: Katherine Fausset, Curtis Brown.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

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