This is part of a series of book reviews by Mayer Brown chair Jon Van Gorp, whose reading informs his perspective as a lawyer and leader of a global law firm and helps him draw insight from unexpected sources.

As lawyers, we take pride in our ability to think. Day in and day out, we solve complex problems for our clients, relying heavily on a familiar set of cognitive tools: knowledge we’ve gained, assumptions we’ve made, habits we’ve developed, instincts we trust and opinions we hold.