Secondomics

by Graham Bower

Secondomics provides an antidote to today's increasingly competitive society, where the distinction between victory and success is all too often blurred. With an eclectic mix of game theory, economics, psychology, evolutionary biology and humor, Graham Bower argues that we tend to over-invest in winning, and underestimate the benefits that coming second affords. Drawing on examples as diverse as Windows versus Mac, Penguins versus Leopard Seals and America versus The Soviet Union, Secondomics offers a challenging new perspective on competition, and raises unexpected questions along the way. Why is the second cheapest bottle of wine so popular? Why was the second American president more significant than the first? And if you exceed the speed limit, when should you expect to get caught by the police? As counterintuitive as it may seem, Secondomics reveals the advantages of quietly coming second. And once you've read it, you may never think about competition in quite the same way again.

220 pages, Paperback

About the author

Graham Bower is usually up to no good. When he’s not writing about himself in the third-person, he works as a designer, journalist, app developer, fitness expert and raconteur.

Born and raised near London, he studied graphic design at Central St Martins. He was the creative director of Black Cat, a marketing agency acquired by Wunderman Thompson and went on to run his own award-winning agency, Polymath, specializing in kids entertainment. Clients included Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and the BBC. After years of promoting other people’s stories, he decided it was time to start writing his own.

Going through cancer treatment and recovery inspired Graham to get into fitness. He’s now a CYQ Level 3 qualified personal trainer and NLP Master Practitioner. His bodybuilding app, Reps & Sets, has been featured on the App Store and he writes about fitness for tech news website Cult of Mac. His hobbies include drinking coffee, watching American football and learning Spanish.

Graham lives in Barcelona with his husband Martin and their dog, Lulabelle.