March 2019 – Thinking, fast and slow

Libor Mertl, a member of the Red Button network, shares his thoughts on the book.

DANIEL KAHNEMAN, Nobel Prize winner in economics, is one of the most influential psychologists of our time. His ideas have had a profound and widely recognized impact on economics, medicine, and politics, but only now has he compiled decades of research into a single book. In his work, Kahneman takes us on a pioneering journey through our minds and explains two systems that shape how we think and make decisions. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional. System 2 is slower, more deliberate, and logical. Kahneman reveals the extraordinary capabilities, as well as the errors and biases of fast thinking, describing phenomena such as the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and choices, the role of optimism in starting new ventures, the importance of properly framed risks at work and home, the difficulty of predicting what will make us happy in the future, and the illusion of expertise. Each of these can only be understood when we know how both systems work together to form our judgments and decisions.

The author engages readers in a lively conversation about how we think, revealing when we can and cannot trust our intuition and how to benefit from slow thinking. He offers practical and insightful knowledge about how our decisions are made in both professional and personal life—and how we can protect ourselves from mental traps that often get us into trouble through various methods.

Who is Libor Mertl?

Libor Mertl is one of the founders of ComAp in 1991. He served as executive director, later as CEO, and was responsible for corporate and product strategy. In recent years, he helped shape the board of directors and in 2016 transitioned to the role of non-executive director and board member at ComAp. He studied Technical Cybernetics at CTU in Prague and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Executive Coaching at Ashridge Business School.