Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure

Tim Harford

May 2011 · Sold by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

About this eBook

In this groundbreaking book, Tim Harford, the Undercover Economist, shows us a new and inspiring approach to solving the most pressing problems in our lives. When faced with complex situations, we have all become accustomed to looking to our leaders to set out a plan of action and blaze a path to success. Harford argues that today's challenges simply cannot be tackled with ready-made solutions and expert opinion; the world has become far too unpredictable and profoundly complex. Instead, we must adapt.

Deftly weaving together psychology, evolutionary biology, anthropology, physics, and economics, along with the compelling story of hard-won lessons learned in the field, Harford makes a passionate case for the importance of adaptive trial and error in tackling issues such as climate change, poverty, and financial crises—as well as in fostering innovation and creativity in our business and personal lives.

Taking us from corporate boardrooms to the deserts of Iraq, Adapt clearly explains the necessary ingredients for turning failure into success. It is a breakthrough handbook for surviving—and prospering— in our complex and ever-shifting world.

Ratings and reviews

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Tim Harford's text relays this message in an understandable and credible way so that contemporary readers can relate it to their lives. While Harford provides a mish mash of examples from various fields, his message resonates: we all need a "willingness to risk failure" so that we can bear the cost of failure without losing the opportunity for tremendous gain (262). In short, we--individuals and organizations alike--must adapt in order to survive because our environment is constantly changing. Harford's eclectic and light approach is particularly helpful because he acknowledges up front that change is hard. What we often don't realize is that it's most difficult to change a "status quo of your own making" (251). He provides very apt advice: "We all need a critic....someone who can help us hold those two jostling thoughts at the same time: I am not a failure--but I have made a mistake" (256-7). He suggests that individuals and organizations cannot hold so tightly to process and prestige that they fall when they inevitably fail. Indeed, "the art of success is to fail productively" (185). So, he puts a slant on something that we already know--to succeed, we must fail several times and learn by trial-and-error. Part of the reason for success emanating from multiple failures is inherent pluralism. Harford explains that employing a variety of strategies, resources, and talents increases the likelihood of long-term success (113). Organizations and individuals have to decide to take that leap. He takes some care in describing how a few innovative mid-level leaders in the US Army learned to adapt in Iraqi operations despite their entrenched leadership. "The key to learning from mistakes was not to stick blindly to the official chain of command but to subvert it where necessary, not to seek unanimity but to listen to dissenters, and, above all, not to rely on a top-down strategy but to decentralise and trust that junior officers would adapt, learning from each other and figuring out the best response to fast-changing local conditions" (78). The Army has applied many lessons learned from this experience, including design thinking and mission command concepts in its recent doctrine. Indeed, it has learned a key truth--that many of the world's problems are more complex than we would like to admit (25). More than a reminder that we must learn to adapt, Harford's work provides a unique insight into how individuals and society can better themselves for the long term. That's some good news.

A decent book but some of the later chapters seemed to veer from the core message of the book.

About the author

Tim Harford is the Undercover Economist and Dear Economist columnist for the Financial Times. His writing has also appeared in Esquire, Forbes, New York magazine, Wired, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. His previous books include The Undercover Economist and The Logic of Life. Harford presents the popular BBC radio show More or Less and is a visiting fellow at London's Cass Business School. He is the winner of the 2006 Bastiat Prize for economic journalism and the 2010 Royal Statistical Society Award for excellence in journalism.