Tim Harford on adapting and prospering in a complex world

On the podcast this week, Tim Harford, economist and senior columnist for the Financial Times, discusses his new book, Adapt: Why Success Starts With Failure. He argues that people and organizations have a poor record of getting things right the first time; therefore, the evolutionary process of trial and error is a difficult yet necessary process needed to solve problems in our complex world. Harford emphasizes the importance of embracing failure in a society focused on perfection. According to Harford, one can implement this process by trying different things in small doses and developing the ability to distinguish success and failures while experimenting. A design with failure in mind, according to Harford, is a design capable of adaptation.

Related Links

Adapt: Why Success Starts With Failure
"Tim Harford on failure", Washington Post
"No, statistics are not silly, but their users . . .", By Harford

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