Surprise
Book

Surprise

Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected

Tania Luna and LeeAnn Renninger
Perigee, 2015

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

The concept of surprise has changed a lot in the past 100,000 years or so. Humanity’s ancient ancestors didn’t like surprises because they usually involved hungry animals and lots of screaming. Today, “surprise!” is something your friends shout at your birthday party – but you may still respond the way your prehistoric forebears shrank from a saber-tooth tiger. According to consultants Tania Luna and LeeAnn Renninger, you are hardwired to fear the unexpected. That creates problems in today’s environment of nonstop change and novelty. Luna and Renninger show you how to develop the resilience, agility and creativity to deal with uncertainty and how to enrich your life by creating surprise for others. This breezy, light exploration offers compelling insights into humankind’s intense relationship with mystery and uncertainty. getAbstract recommends its new tools for delighting your customers and loved ones.

Summary

Expect the Unexpected

To thrive in today’s world, you need to learn to like surprises. That can be tough, because human beings instinctively avoid uncertainty. Your prehistoric ancestors lived at a time when surprises were often life threatening. Their reaction to an unexpected event was intense: They froze and redirected all their mental resources to analyzing the situation and finding a way out. They found it safer to avoid risk by giving a wide berth to dark caves where hungry predators might lurk.

People still react much the same way to surprise. But tactics that worked in the prehistoric world are usually counterproductive in the modern environment of constant, rapid change. Overreacting to change today means living a life of ongoing anxiety and fear. Staying in your comfort zone may mean missing out on following your dreams.

“The Surprise Sequence”

Your brain constantly makes predictions about what is going to happen next. When those predictions turn out to be right, you coast along, more or less on automatic pilot. When you encounter the unexpected, everything changes. You halt. You gape. You’ve entered the first phase of a four-stage, sequenced...

About the Authors

LeeAnn Renninger is founder and CEO of LifeLabs New York, where Tania Luna leads the “culture department.” Luna co-founded Surprise Industries and writes for Psychology Today.

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