The Slow Fix

December 3, 2012
No more shortcuts, argues this scattershot primer on taking the hard way out. Journalist Honoré (In Praise of Slowness) deplores society’s addiction to the cheap, facile, shortsighted, clichéd “quick fix,” and insists that solving our knottiest problems requires long horizons, focused effort, complex strategizing, and deep thought. He applies this perspective to a slew of business and public policy case studies, including corporate turnarounds, the rehabilitation of chaotic ghetto schools, and Bogotá, Colombia’s celebrated bus system. Honoré’s readable but sketchy summaries glean useful insights from these examples, but no coherent approach gels from his contradictory mishmash of managerial buzz-concepts; readers are enjoined to both think holistically and fixate on details, to simultaneously embrace egoless collaborative teams, solitary introspection, and charismatic leaders. Disconcertingly, many of the nostrums he touts sound very much like cursory quick fixes: companies seeking technical breakthroughs can crowdsource them on a Web site instead of funding R&D programs; an online game called Chore Wars magically convinces kids and husbands to do their share of housekeeping; and “research suggests that just two minutes of reasoned reflection can help us look beyond our biases.” Honoré’s slowness paradigm feels like just another glib, split-second substitute for serious analysis. Agent: Patrick Walsh, Conville & Walsh (U.K.).

May 1, 2013

Journalist and best-selling author Honore advances his advocacy outlined in his slow-movement paradigm In Praise of Slowness as he examines how complex problems are best solved, this time with an emphasis on practicing patience. He argues that humans are natural problem solvers and are inclined to act quickly, to avoid danger, and to meet their immediate needs. Society's addiction to instant gratification encourages and rewards these instincts, but, he maintains, quick actions don't solve long-standing and multifaceted dilemmas. Honore investigates how institutional and societal problems can benefit from applying the principles he identifies as elements of the "slow fix." Covering situations from failing schools in Los Angeles and the prison system in Norway to the crime-ridden city of Bogota, Colombia, and the coffee farms of Costa Rica, he proposes the ingredients for long-term solutions. VERDICT Readers wishing for a problem-solving formula won't find it here. Instead, Honore's challenge is to slow down, analyze, assess, and explore how others have turned around failing organizations and systems with lasting results.--Carol Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater Libs.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2013
Journalist Honor' observes that our society is hooked on the quick fix as we seek the maximum return for the minimum effort. He offers a practical and entertaining guide to what he calls the slow fix for problem solving: hard work requiring humility to admit we do not have all the answers and we need time and help. The self-help industry encourages the quick fix, and Honor' acknowledges the media's role, too, as it immediately leaps into a crisis and demands instant answers and remedies. Steps in the author's slow fix for solving complex problems include taking time to admit mistakes and finding what is really wrong, focusing on details, thinking long, building holistic solutions, seeking ideas from others and sharing the credit, acquiring expertise while remaining skeptical of experts, tapping emotions, enlisting a leader, consulting those closest to the problem, treating problem solving as a game, following hunches, adapting by trial and error, and embracing uncertainty. This is a sound, thought-provoking book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)