You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Another book that's really hard to review. As with all non-fiction books, I read this slowly with several fiction books on the go at the same time. The premis is a good one, but the initial military based chapters didn't do much for me, although the author very much glorified and, very obviously, hero worshipped the military. Whilst it's clearly written and obviously well researched, I found reading it hard going. for me. in summary, there are 3 points to the book. 1. Variation, look for a variety of new ideas (innovation) 2. Survive, when trying g something new, make sure you are able to come out of it and 3. Select, learn, and adapt (hence the title of the book) seek feedback and try not to spiral into denial. It was interesting enough that I finished the book, but reading it in bite sized pieces was the way i managed to do this. The last 2 chapters were the quickest and most interesting first me.
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
If you have read Tipping point or Freakanomics then you will probably enjoy this
Audio book.
Narrator was pleasant to listen to, book was thoughtfully put together.
Narrator was pleasant to listen to, book was thoughtfully put together.
An excellent argument, clearly and concisely put. Goes a bit overboard with the hero worship of army officers, but that really is a minor quibble.
Dense writing that struggled to stay on topic - his more recent book was much better, this one wasn't so much about adaptation and failure as it was separate articles on innovation, climate change, war, economics - read it for good case studies on those. It wasn't clear what 'thesis' a reader was supposed to take away from the book as a whole
informative
slow-paced
Three main principles...
1. Variation – seek out new ideas and try new ideas
2. Survivability – when trying something new, do it on a scale where failure is survivable
3. Selection – seek out feedback and learn from mistakes as you go along, avoiding an instinctive reaction of denial.
1. Variation – seek out new ideas and try new ideas
2. Survivability – when trying something new, do it on a scale where failure is survivable
3. Selection – seek out feedback and learn from mistakes as you go along, avoiding an instinctive reaction of denial.
Good book with adequate research. Unfortunately timed read because I just read Kahneman's Thinking Fast and Slow, which is Nobel-quality research.
the general message of Adapt (and I hope this doesn't count as a SPOILER or anything - hey it is non-fiction right??) Is that in order to really succeed there needs to be some space for failure - the ability to correct mistakes, and a plan to fail safely.
Harford's theory is essentially that just as in the biological world, the financial, military and personal realms need to undergo their own evolution to succeed.
Throughout the novel, Harford examines the financial collapse of 08, the BP oil spill, and lame attempts to recreate a simple toaster from scratch.
If you're willing to plough through the detail, the insight provided by this book is awesome.
My only criticism of this piece is the rather abrupt last chapter where Harford discusses personal failure and success. Harford leaps into sexual crimes, back-door abortions and attempts to link these to the global sized thesis he has already presented. I'm not so much criticising his idea just that rather than fulling fleshing it out, he throws some shocking concepts together and concludes the book.
But its only a short last chapter in a killer book that'll pump that brain muscle to the max.
Harford's theory is essentially that just as in the biological world, the financial, military and personal realms need to undergo their own evolution to succeed.
Throughout the novel, Harford examines the financial collapse of 08, the BP oil spill, and lame attempts to recreate a simple toaster from scratch.
If you're willing to plough through the detail, the insight provided by this book is awesome.
My only criticism of this piece is the rather abrupt last chapter where Harford discusses personal failure and success. Harford leaps into sexual crimes, back-door abortions and attempts to link these to the global sized thesis he has already presented. I'm not so much criticising his idea just that rather than fulling fleshing it out, he throws some shocking concepts together and concludes the book.
But its only a short last chapter in a killer book that'll pump that brain muscle to the max.