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A review by simmoril
Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure by Tim Harford
5.0
Although I enjoyed Harford's earlier work, The Undercover Economist, what really drew me to his latest book was a talk he gave at The London School of Economics about this book (http://youtu.be/mCmFWiSCm7A). After seeing the talk (which I highly recommend watching), I just had to check out Adapt
The main thesis of Adapt is many of the problems we face in today's world are incredibly complicated; so complicated in fact, that there may not be a straightforward answer to solving them; that is, it might not be as simple as just sitting around, thinking up a solution, and then implementing it. Rather, good solutions need to come about the same way that nature comes up with solutions; through trial and error, adaptation, and evolution. Harford draws upon multiple examples from the military, business, finance, and nature to show that to succeed requires the ability to try many different approaches, with the expectation that most of them will fail.
I've long been a subscriber to the idea that softening the blow from failures is a great idea, as it serves as a strong encouragement to try new things and explore new paths without the fear of ruin. Harford's book does a great job of highlighting the benefits of this approach with a variety of examples. His stories about the military failures in Iraq, the collapse of Lehmann Brothers, and the success of Whole Foods Markets were real eye-openers for me. Most of all, his examples were great food for thought; as I was reading Adapt, I constantly found myself making notes of things to look up and research later.
I highly recommend Adapt for a fresh perspective on how to approach challenges and really see why failure isn't always a bad thing.
The main thesis of Adapt is many of the problems we face in today's world are incredibly complicated; so complicated in fact, that there may not be a straightforward answer to solving them; that is, it might not be as simple as just sitting around, thinking up a solution, and then implementing it. Rather, good solutions need to come about the same way that nature comes up with solutions; through trial and error, adaptation, and evolution. Harford draws upon multiple examples from the military, business, finance, and nature to show that to succeed requires the ability to try many different approaches, with the expectation that most of them will fail.
I've long been a subscriber to the idea that softening the blow from failures is a great idea, as it serves as a strong encouragement to try new things and explore new paths without the fear of ruin. Harford's book does a great job of highlighting the benefits of this approach with a variety of examples. His stories about the military failures in Iraq, the collapse of Lehmann Brothers, and the success of Whole Foods Markets were real eye-openers for me. Most of all, his examples were great food for thought; as I was reading Adapt, I constantly found myself making notes of things to look up and research later.
I highly recommend Adapt for a fresh perspective on how to approach challenges and really see why failure isn't always a bad thing.