Mavis: The Productivity Paradox

Name: Mavis: The Productivity Paradox
Rating: 4.777777671813965 (9 reviews)

Kris Safarova

Oct 2020 · Firmsconsulting LLC

4.8

9 reviews

Ebook

364

Pages

Eligible

About this ebook

In Mavis’s dystopian world, starvation, sacrifice and poverty haunt a country trying to recover from The Great Patriotic War. Protected by a peacekeeping force, the nation struggles to coax profits out of a sprawling industrial complex to pay wartime reparations. In this world, the future of every citizen is decided on their sixteenth birthday during a single exam, The Selection. They either join Defense, Productivity or Leadership.

Mavis is assigned to a chemical plant to solve a productivity paradox and struggles with her colleagues as they race to meet the reparations deadline. Thrown into her new role, with little support, Mavis assembles a team and tries to understand why productivity is dropping. Mavis must figure out who her friends are, and how does Truman, a soldier who seems interested in her, fit into her life. Yet Mavis is burdened by having to leave her ill little sister behind. As Mavis investigates the problem, she discovers a conspiracy that threatens the nation just as unexplained sightings spike in the surrounding forest.

This young adult (YA) dystopian novel combines the teaching of science, critical thinking and problem-solving skills with wrenching decisions, betrayal, heartbreak, love and the bond between two sisters that will change the future of mankind.

Q&A with Author Kris Safarova

Q: Why did you write this book?

Safarova: I write what I know and what I wish people had written for me when I was starting out in life. The way strategy consultants solve problems is very different. Yet, this skill is not widely taught. Imagine if we taught these skills to everyone and at an earlier age? I know more people will find these topics interesting and learn these skills if I could find a way to weave them into an engaging story.

Q: What do you hope the books achieve?

Safarova: I want to get more people interested in business and teach them to solve problems in a better way. Readers who don’t have an interest in critical thinking, problem solving, and business may realize they learned a lot, and also enjoyed the journey. And readers who are intentionally building these skills will find this series helped them become better at solving problems.

Q: What inspired the story?

Safarova: I lived in the former USSR and I adapted events from my own life. When I was 3 my parents were evicted on a less than 12 hours notice, in the middle of Russian winter. I remember lifting my legs high enough to make each step because the snow was so deep that night, as we tried to find a place to stay. That is the first memory I have of physically suffering.

Mavis’s cappuccino scene is based on my own experience. I was 21 when I first tasted cappuccino and I was blown away by how tasty it was. At the time I barely had money to pay rent, so I was skipping lunch and dinner on most days.

Leaving my 12-year old sister in Russia was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. Yet, it was the right thing because I am now fortunately able to help my family. My little sister and I now work together and I could not be prouder of her. The bond between Mavis and Corolla is autobiographical.

Q: Was the strong female characters and themes of class segregation and climate change intentional?

Safarova: I wrote what I knew, and it was easier to channel my emotions and ideas through the eyes of a sixteen-year-old girl because I had been one. Strip away the dystopian elements and everything in the story is happening today.

Q: What’s next for Mavis?

Safarova: The story of Mavis and her sister, Corolla, will continue. I am working on a prequel to explain the events that led to The Great Patriotic War. Societies change slowly and we reach a tipping point. I want to explore that while retaining the books’ focus on teaching critical thinking and problem-solving skills in an entertaining way.

Ratings and reviews

4.8

9 reviews

Lim Lim

March 25, 2021

The story draws you into the life of the protagonist, Mavis, from the first page as the author takes painstaking effort to describe the world this selfless hero lives in, and her thought-life. Mavis carries herself with mature discipline and innocence, and you are shown how she makes sense of her world and approaches challenges. And without knowing, you are taken through repetitions of lessons on how to apply management consultancy skills. Examples include making sense of a new situation by first quickly developing hypotheses and testing them while you gather more information and gradually develop your analysis and storyboard. The story is also built around the concept of productivity and how to makes sense of this seemingly simple concept, and takes you through a journey with the other characters as they learn that there is more than meets the eye. Different parts of the story introduce new themes of consultancy skills with repetition cleverly woven into the story. I recommend this book be read twice, thrice, or more. Perhaps once, and then reading the other books like 'The Strategy Journal' before returning to the story again to identify how different skills are applied by Mavis. A masterful attempt at making business education engaging, with a twist at the end of the story that demonstrates another more human side of Mavis. I look forward to knowing what happens next!

Juan Carlos Viveros

April 6, 2021

The plot is engaging in itself that it leads you to ask what will happen in the story. The context is not a typical company or project setting that has a defined challenge to be solved; it is a nation, so the outcome is not predictable. As the story unfolds, more factors add to the complexity of the equation and challenge previous assumptions and conclusions. Business logic is inserted in a subtle way that it becomes a natural part of the dialogue. Multiple scenes describe life-like situations professionals experience within themselves and with others like the impostor syndrome, power privilege, leadership, and politics.

Jeeves

February 28, 2021

I always say, "If you find firmsconsulting content through a recommendation, you must have done something exceptional or rare to earn it...and if you find it by accident, you are lucky and privileged!" This work once again confirms my belief. I think what's unique and special about this particular work is that it takes one on a journey that allows to experience an entirely new level of understanding of the seemingly simple concept of 'productivity' subconsciously. And if you follow FC and have heard of Denis Diderot, you might see that another beauty of this work is that this is a story book but "this is not a story"... and if even it's so, this is not just about productivity, it's about life...maybe everyone's life.

About the author

Kris Safarova is the Presiding Partner of FIRMSconsulting.com and its OTT arm, StrategyTraining.com: the world's largest strategy streaming channel. She works with a network of ex-McKinsey, BCG, et al. partners to produce original strategy/leadership training videos, podcasts and books. She manages several of the top podcast channels worldwide for strategy and management consulting, ranked in the Top-10 for careers in many countries, and is the author of five books on business strategy.

Kris believes in the power of logic, critical thinking, and storytelling to help our clients solve mankind's toughest problems.

FIRMSconsulting is a private equity firm that partners with governments and past clients to take ownership and operating control of businesses. We deploy seasoned ex-McKinsey, BCG, et al. partners to oversee each business. This process is documented to produce original programming - books, analysis slides, videos and podcasts - for the streaming platforms. Recent investments include digitizing a miner in Asia, an electric car business in China, a luxury brands boutique in Europe, and a new age cosmetics start-up in California.

Kris Safarova received a Dipl. in Music with a concentration in Classical Piano from DG Shatalov Music College, a B.Comm from UNISA, cum laude with highest distinction and an MBA from Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario in Canada, on the dean's list with highest distinction, where she was President of the Public Sector Club and Editor of the Public Sector Journal. Prior to obtaining her business degrees, she worked in management consulting and post-MBA she was a banker and consulting engagement manager in Toronto, Canada.

Prior to consulting Kris was a master classical concert pianist and official music representative of the Russian Federation who toured Europe.

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