Tim Harford on trial and error
Failure is necessary
IN THIS fascinating conversation with The Economist, Tim Harford, author of a new book about failure, talks about the direct relationship between progress and risk-taking. It turns out mistakes are useful if we learn from them.
Books
ADAPT
When faced with complex problems, we have all become accustomed to looking to our leaders to set out a grand vision, experts to draw up a detailed plan of action, or gurus who can provide us with some infallible solution.
In this groundbreaking book, Tim Harford shows us a new and inspiring approach to solving the most pressing problems in our lives. Harford argues that today’s challenges simply cannot be tackled with ready-made solutions and expert opinions; the world has become far too unpredictable and profoundly complex. Instead, we must adapt—improvise rather than plan, work from the bottom up rather than the top down, and take baby steps rather than great leaps forward. Drawing from research across disciplines—psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, physics, mathematics, political science, and economics—and interviews with some of the world’s most pioneering leaders, thinkers, and strategists, Harford reveals hard-won lessons learned in the field and the importance of adaptive, trial-and-error processes in tackling issues such as fostering innovation, climate change, poverty, the financial crises, and conflict.
From a spaceport in the Mojave Desert, to the street battles of Iraq, to a blazing offshore drilling rig, to everyday decisions in our business and personal lives, this is a handbook for surviving—and prospering—in our complex and ever-shifting world.
Kindle buyers in continental Europe For reasons too tedious to explain, the UK edition of “Adapt” is available via Amazon.com on Kindle in mainland Europe. You should have best luck buying it via the device itself. Apologies to those who’ve struggled!
REVIEWS
All information on this website is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide financial advise. Any statements about profits or income, expressed or implied, does not represent a guarantee. Your actual trading may result in losses as no trading system is guaranteed. You accept full responsibilities for your actions, trades, profit or loss, and agree to hold MinKL Invest harmless in any and all ways.Harford’s case histories are well chosen and artfully told, making the book a delight to read. But its value is greater than that. Strand by strand, it weaves the stories into a philosophical web that is neat, fascinating and brilliant. Like the best popular science, it advances the subject as well as conveying it, drawing intriguing conclusions about how to run companies, armies and research labs… It would be hard to improve Harford’s outstanding book.
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