Interview with Leidy Klotz, author of Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less
Leidy Klotz, author of Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less recommends some great books! Before jumping into the interview, please check out Leidy's book:
Review from Book Depository:
Blending evidence across science and design, Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less offers a revolution in problem-solving: proving why we overlook subtraction, and how we can access its true potential We pile on "to-dos" but don't consider "stop-doings." We create incentives for good behavior, but don't get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and-improved ideas, but don't prune the outdated ones. Every day, across challenges big and small, we neglect a basic way to make things better: we don't subtract. Leidy Klotz's pioneering research shows why. Whether we're building Lego models or cities, grilled-cheese sandwiches or strategic plans, our minds tend to add before taking away. Even when we do think of it, subtraction can be harder to pull off because an array of biological, cultural, and economic forces push us towards more. But we have a choice--our blind spot need not go on taking its toll on our cities, our institutions, and our minds. By diagnosing our neglect of subtraction, we can treat it.
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Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less
Subtract will change how you change your world. In these pages you'll meet subtracting exemplars: design geniuses, Nobel Prize-winners, rock-stars, and everyday heroes, who have subtracted to dismantle racism, advance knowledge, heal the planet, and even tell better jokes. These and more guiding lights show how we can revolutionize not just our day-to-day lives, but our collective legacy. A paradigm shift of a book, Subtract shows us how to find more of the options we've been missing--and empowers us to pursue them.
Buy On:
Book Depository €19.36
Waterstones £22.99
Q. Do you have a favourite smart thinking book (and why that book)?
I truly don’t have a single favorite. There are a couple dozen I think are essential, in that they will sharpen your view of the world AND are fun to read. So, allow me to subtract my answer here and I’ll give two amazing books for the next question.
Q. What's the most recent smart thinking book you've read (and how would you rate it)?
The Gardener and the Carpenter by Alison Gopnik.
Review from Book Depository:
Caring deeply about our children is part of what makes us human. Yet the thing we call 'parenting' is a surprisingly new invention. In the past thirty years, the concept of parenting and the huge industry surrounding it have transformed childcare into obsessive, controlling, and goal-orientated labour intended to create a particular kind of child, and therefore a particular kind of adult.
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A masterclass in creative non-fiction, with added meta given the wisdom is dispensed using the very lessons being taught. Every word, phrase and juxtaposition, expertly crafted for maximum effect, delivers deserved enviousness. A joy to read and a valuable resource for any writer.
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Draft No. 4 by John McPhee.
These are both masterpieces. Rather than offering formulaic advice that can be followed blindly, Gopnik and McPhee provide the evidence and the stories to fundamentally enhance your approach to parenting (The Gardener and the Carpenter) and writing (Draft No. 4).
The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children
Drawing on the study of human evolution and her own cutting-edge scientific research into how children learn, Gopnik shows that although caring for children is profoundly important, it is not a matter of shaping them to turn out a particular way. Children are designed to be messy and unpredictable, playful and imaginative, and to be very different both from their parents and from each other. The variability and flexibility of childhood lets them innovate, create, and survive in an unpredictable world. 'Parenting' won't make children learn - but caring parents let children learn by creating a secure, loving environment.
In The Gardener and the Carpenter, the pioneering developmental psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik argues that the familiar twenty-first-century picture of parenting is profoundly wrong - it's not just based on bad science, it's bad for children and their parents too.
Buy On:
Book Depository €9.13
Waterstones £9.99
Wordery $18.00
Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process
Buy On:
Book Depository €25.29
Waterstones £11.99
Wordery £15.54
Q. Do you have a favourite childhood book?
My parents tell me that I loved The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper.
Review From Waterstones:
Everyone loves The Little Engine That Could, that classic tale of the determined little engine that, despite its size, triumphantly pulls a train full of toys to the waiting children on the other side of a mountain.
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The Little Engine That Could
Now the great Loren Long (Otis; Of Thee I Sing) has brilliantly re-illustrated this classic story, bringing it exuberantly to life for today's child. Get on board for the publishing event of the year.
Buy On:
Easons €14.81
Waterstones £3.99
Q. Do you prefer reading on paper, Kindle or listening to an audiobook?
I’m a Kindle fan, mostly so that I can easily highlight sections to revisit, and also because the backlit screen allows me to keep reading after kids fall asleep.
Q. Do you have a favourite bookshop (and why that shop)?
Politics and Prose is a guilty pleasure when I visit Washington, D.C. They’ve also done a remarkable job maintaining community in the transition to virtual events.
Many thanks to Leidy for recommending some great books! Please don't forget to check out Leidy's book Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less.
Daryl
Image Copyrights: St Martin's Press (Subtract), Vintage Publishing (The Gardener and the Carpenter), Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc (Draft No.4), Random House USA Inc (The Little Engine That Could).
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