Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/57338
"IT'S TIME TO MAKE BETTER USE OF OUR BRAIN POWER TO MANAGE THE ANXIETY THAT ACCOMPANIES CHANGE AND UNCERTAINTY. IT'S TIME TO EVOLVE." —Just Enough Anxiety Robert H. Rosen has interesting advice about how to manage change: Evolve to embrace chaos. In Just Enough Anxiety, he explores the evolutionary reasons behind stress and fear, and the medical and psychological reasons humans tend to avoid both. And then he blasts them out the window. "It's time to make better use of our brain power to manage the anxiety that accompanies change and uncertain- ty," he writes. It's time to evolve." The fast pace of change means we no longer have the luxury of mulling over new situations; the unrelenting barrage of new information means we have to learn to be comfortable with constant uncertainty. Rosen believes that anxiety can be turned from a sinkhole of churning worry to a source of positive energy. But it has to be managed carefully and it has to be understood. Rosen pro- vides a roadmap for achieving both of those goals— and just enough motivational cheerleading to make the reader think they're possible. (Portfolio, $24.95) but also sounds a clear call to action for top executives. (Harvard Business School Press, $29.95) Can entrepreneurial capitalism save the Earth—literally? Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn think so, and they make the case with passion in Earth: The Sequel. Part business book, part science project, and part political screed, Earth minutely examines emerging technologies that could radi- cally revamp the way energy is produced for the world's consumption—but only if governmental policies are changed to allow free-market capitalism to level the playing field for all the entrepreneurs tinkering with sources for alternative energy. In particular, the authors favor cap-and-trade policies that will not only mandate reduced carbon emissions for everyone, but provide an incentive for companies to create and "sell" a surplus of their own reductions. "We can, in short, use the power of the market system to climb out of the hole created by flawed markets," write Krupp and Horn. "We can channel the full range of human impulses—ingenu- ity, idealism, ambition— into undoing the damage and heal- ing our planet." Some of the densely written scientific material about solar power and biofuels makes for pretty slow reading, but tales of interna- tional inventors and venture capital- ists are as engaging as those in any book about entrepreneurial spirit. Because so much of the technology is still in the nascent stages, there is a certain you-are-there immediacy; this is very much a book about an unfolding market, and everything in it is subject to change. Nonetheless, it makes for timely, powerful, and urgent reading. (W.W. Norton & Company, $24.95) As the world grows more complex, inter- connected, and subject to sweeping crises, it becomes increasingly clear that no one leader or organiza- tion can solve major problems. In Megacommunities, Mark Gerenc- ser, Reginald Van Lee, Fernando Napolitano, and Christopher Kelly describe how business, govern- ment, and civil society must come together to deal with issues as diverse as bioterrorism, HIV/AIDS, rainforest depletion, and natural disasters. The private sector brings a resource base and skill in problem- solving; government brings sta- bility and the rule of law; NGOs add accountability, credibility, and sensitivity to local culture and envi- ronmental issues. The more diverse the megacommunity, the broader the network will be, and the more kinds of expertise will be available to solve serious global problems. For instance, the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS coalesced around "hard-core issues such as HIV/AIDS's effect on India's GDP and productivity rates for business." While the problems described are dire, the book leaves the reader hopeful that coalitions can work together to solve them all. (Palgrave Macmillan, $27.95) ■ z BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2008 71