Steven Poole

Do you hate going forward? Do you shudder when a colleague wants to reach out? Are you disgusted by low-hanging fruit, sick of being on the team, and reluctant to open the kimono? Does the phrase blue-sky thinking make you see red? Do you really want to drill down or take a helicopter view? Are you past caring whether the key drivers are going to move the needle? Should anyone really punch a puppy? And can you bear to hear about a big hairy audacious goal? If modern office jargon makes you want to throw up, this book is for you. Taking a hilarious and scathing deep dive into the most hated and absurd examples of corporate-speak it is a come to Jesus moment for verbally downtrodden workers everywhere.

"Clever and entertaining." (Sunday Times). "Elegantly written and full of surprises." (Daily Telegraph). "Always entertaining and often eye-opening." (Financial Times). Old ideas that were mocked or ignored for centuries are now storming back to the cutting edge of research and informing the way we lead our lives. In Rethink, Steven Poole explains why today's chess grandmasters, quantum physicists and psychologists are mining the last 2,000 years of history for answers to the problems of the present. He explores how long-neglected thinkers could transform our everyday lives: from improving the way boardrooms operate, to inspiring grand projects for social and political change. And above all, he shows that by rethinking discarded ideas we can each gain a better understanding of the world - and perhaps be better equipped to change it. "A whirlwind of discovery...Among the greatest compliments you can give a book is that it helps you to see things differently." (Guardian). "When it comes to describing a complex idea clearly, Poole is one of the best writers around." (Sunday Times). "Fascinating...Poole confirms his standing as one of our liveliest and most thought-provoking writers on science and technology." (Spectator).