REVIEWS

Reviews for How To Be A Lot Less Stupid

— “There is a preconception among Romanian readers that the majority of business books on the market here are boring, dry, without any memorable ideas, and it is not worth putting up with them. It’s better to go on social media to learn from someone’s experience!

“Well, Peter H. Frank’s book, M-am saturat sa fiu prost, published by Humanitas (2015), and translated by Cecilia Laslo, goes against this general observation. With a provocative title, this book is quite a smart one! Certainly, it’s not boring. On the contrary! …

M-am saturat sa fiu prost is a book that can be read both by business people and people outside business. Accessibility is the main quality of this book. It’s not an esoteric book, written from the heights of an academic chair lost up in the clouds.

“It’s a book for smart people, but also for ‘stupid’ ones as well. Despite the challenging title, the author makes a polite specification right on the cover: ‘No one is born stupid. We are born merely ignorant. It takes a willful determination to become and to remain truly stupid.'” (Forbes Romania) [Original in Romanian] [English translation]

 

— “This is one of the most enjoyable business books I’ve ever read. Rather than the typical book filled with only principle and theory, this journey through business and thinking provides entertaining and substantive real-life examples and practical suggestions. Just by itself, the chapter on writing and business memos is sufficient reason to get this book. This should be required reading for anyone doing business or considering doing business.” (Lance Weaver, President of Virgin Money Cards, former Vice Chairman of MBNA America Bank, former Chairman of MasterCard International)

 

— “Even if you’re smart, it’s easy to be stupid—all your intelligence, all your time, and all your money running down the wrong track, like a powerful locomotive heading blindly toward a train wreck. That’s why we need Peter H. Frank’s How To Be A Lot Less Stupid, a book about critical thinking in business, philosophy, and life. Get a copy for your friends, families, and co-workers—and especially a copy for yourself.” (Joseph Bottum, bestselling American essayist and author of An Anxious Age)

 

— “Inspiring, down to earth, critical in a constructive manner and most of all:  funny.”  (Raluca Mihaila, Customer Relationship Manager at BILLA Romania, Rewe Group)

 

—  “Peter H. Frank’s book “M-am saturat sa fiu prost. Incursiune in gandirea critica pentru oamenii de afaceri”, recently published by Humanitas, deserves all our attention. And there are several solid reasons for that attention. First, it’s not a textbook, it doesn’t follow a common pattern. There are many books on Critical Thinking on the market, most of them with a predictable structure, analyzing (with more or less writing talent) various considerations or errors in thinking. If you want such a book, it’s probably recommended to read a good textbook on rhetoric and management. One good work and you’re done. Peter H. Frank’s task is to make you concentrate on essentials, on fundamental questions, to begin a process of questioning your own actions and to realize what’s really important. It doesn’t read like a course, but rather like a business seminar. He uses many examples from philosophers or great writers, and personal stories. He criticizes some business writers and illustrates everything with theories. But what really matters is that he makes you succeed in thinking clearly, to get out of the “appearances” zone. Readers will also find case studies, which they will be asked to analyze and reach their own conclusions. And so, slowly but surely, you get to think of your own business. You start to ask yourself all the important questions you’ve probably never asked. It’s a book that opens horizons for business people, especially for the ones that want more than instant satisfaction, for those who want to build for the long-term. Or, as John Kenneth Galbraith says, as quoted in the book, for those who want greatness in business.” (Contributors.ro) [Original in Romanian]

 

— “I could say without any mistake that it’s a book of stories. Meaning that, though the author rounds up with theory by the end or even inside these stories, he builds up this book using examples of professional life. He speaks about his own business experience, some situations in which he was one of the protagonists, others he only witnessed.

“On the other hand, we could surely say it’s an excellent book of professional life tips for absolutely anyone who wants to structure their own critical thinking, either as a student in Marketing or Management, for instance, or for someone already in a position of high responsibilities in a company. It’s for anybody and anytime one needs to refresh their critical or practical perspectives, or to develop those two abilities.

“For these reasons, and for others you’ll discover while reading – perhaps with annotations here and there – this extraordinary book is an absolute sine qua non for business people. I recommend you buy this book, which I predict will have multiple future editions.” (Ana Barton, Cariereonline.ro) [Original in Romanian]

 

— “A book that’s ‘different,’ in a spectacular way. It comes with case studies and you think it’s a business handbook; then it shoots quickly with general logic exercises. Anyone will find an angle from which this book will bring something new – for me, the most interesting parts were those from business philosophy area, which are sensational. It was like a breath of fresh air. I read it nodding my head ‘yes’ at every page and asking myself, in the end, why didn’t I write this book. It’s a truly excellent book, and Romanian entrepreneurs need it! Thank you, Peter!” (Radu Georgescu, founder GECAD Group, translated from the book jacket)

 

— “If we think a bit, the author unfolded, in this book, a forceful theoretical expedition, with the noble goal of inculcating a realistic way of thinking and true understanding in his contemporaries willing to competently manage their business. With current fashionable facts in their minds, this journey would not be unfruitful. Anyway, we hope it won’t be useless, for Peter, our businessologist – with some philosophy in his background, a lot of experience in his activity and enough humor in his bag – he turns out to be, from the very beginning, a guide who substantially knows the explored land.” (Luca Pitu, retired Professor of Philology at Al. I. Cuza University in Iasi, translated from the book jacket)

 

— “A book that provokes you to understand why and how, with the perspective of a child, to exercise your logic and your ability of detachment so that you get to see clearly beyond your thinking, to make connections and analyze any situation from all the possible perspectives, to enjoy the game and to dare to plunge into the most difficult situations, without forgetting for a moment to question even the issues you think you perfectly know. Peter H. Frank manages to extremely skillfully combine complex theoretical notions with practical examples that make this journey in critical thinking so useful but also fascinating.” (Cristina Savuica, Chief Happiness Officer, Lugera – The People Republic, the largest Human Resources company in Romania, translated from the book jacket)

 

— “A book that can help you be less stupid. That’s quite a challenge! … Well, Peter Frank’s book is our guide through the world in which we live and work today, and about which we wish to make sense, for reaching our goals. What questions to ask others and yourself, when and exactly how to structure them, what to do with the information you get, how to process and validate it in a logical structure. And it’s done in a very serious way – and that’s despite the title that might suggest a vacation book. In fact, that’s the beauty of this book, after all. Peter Frank takes you nicely by the hand, makes friends with you, and then he introduces you to the sophisticated world of critical thinking before you even notice it. When you realize what he’s got you in, it’s already too late. You’re almost at the end of the book, you’ve done the homework that’s spread around the journey, and you really want to get to the end and shout it loud: ‘I’M NOT (STUPID) ANYMORE!'” (Radu Craciun, Chief Economist at Banca Comercial Romana, translated excerpt from the Preface)

 

From the Romanian book jacket:

— “O carte ‘altfel’, intr-un sens spectaculos. Vine cu studii de caz si crezi ca este un manual de business, apoi te executa scurt cu exercitii de logica generala. Oricine va gasi un unghi din care cartea asta sa ii aduca ceva nou – pentru mine, cele mai interesante parti au fost din zona de filozofie a businessului, care sunt tratate senzational. A fost o gura de aer, am citit-o dand din cap ca “da” la fiecare pagina si la sfarsit m-am intrebat de ce nu am scris-o eu. E cu adevarat o carte excelenta, iar antreprenorii din Romania au nevoie de ea! Peter, iti multumesc!” (Radu Georgescu, founder GECAD Group)

 

— “Dacă stăm să ne gândim niţel, autorul a întreprins, în cartea de faţă, o expediţie teoretică forte, cu nobilul scop al inculcării unui mod de a gândi realist şi de a înţelege adevărat contemporanilor săi dornici să-şi gestioneze competent afacerile. Având ei în minte întâmplările lumii de azi, călătoria aceasta nu ar avea cum să nu le fie trebuincioasă. Oricum, nădejde ni-i că nu va fi în van, deoarece Peter, bisnisologul nostru – cu niscaiva filozofie în spate, multă experienţă la activ şi destul umor la purtător −, se dovedeşte, din start, o călăuză care cunoaşte cu temeinicie terenul explorat.” (Luca Piţu, Pensionar doctor indocent al Universităţii Cuzane de pe vijeliosul Bahlui)

 

— “O carte care te provoacã sã înțelegi ce, de ce și cum din perspectiva curiozitãții unui copil, sã îți exersezi logica și capacitatea de detașare în așa fel încât sã vezi cu claritate dincolo de ceea ce gândești, sã faci conexiuni și sã analizezi situațiile din toate perspectivele posibile, sã te bucuri de joc și sã îndrãznești sã plonjezi în cele mai dificile situații, fãrã sã uiți o clipã sã pui sub semnul întrebãrii chiar și chestiunile pe care ți se pare cã le cunoști perfect. Peter H. Frank reușește sã combine extrem de abil noțiuni teoretice complexe cu exemple practice care sã facã aceastã în cãlãtorie prin gândirea criticã atât utilã, cât și fascinantã.” (Cristina Savuică, Chief Happiness Officer, Lugera – The People Republic, al celei mai mari companii de recrutare si consultanta in resurse umane din Romania)

 

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