Adapt - Book Summary

Using actual, legitimate examples, Adapt centers around the idea of accepting failure as a natural part of life, and more importantly, as an opportunity to grow and learn from it. Moreover, i...

These examples teach us that there are certain situations when the innovative instinct surpasses the rational one. To be innovative, you have to think outside the box, even though you may fail. This doesn’t mean that you should defy authorities, but rather experiment with your

Creativity lays the foundation for development. The world we currently live in is the result of many creative processes and innovations. Therefore, we have to harness, nurture and protect all processes that have the potential to become discoveries, as they are the engine that drives ...

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy. What matters is how quickly the leader is able to adapt."

-Tim Hartford

Tim Harford introduces the reader to a series of surprising concepts, focusing specifically on the importance of accepting failure as part of our lives. 

Adapt ...

The book points towards centralization and its capacity to hinder innovation . Given the example of a top-down organization, the author explains how high-level managers cannot make better decisions than local executives th...

Growth implies an ongoing process of trial and error and gradual maturity. Whenever we face an opportunity, a challenge, or maybe just an experience that might turn into a life lesson, we are going to experience a few changes in our personality. And because we face all kinds of occurrences,...

Harford suggests that we should consider failure a natural part of any process or plan . And rather than being disappointed, you should just eliminate that variable from then on and try again. Moreover, you should expect to ...

Innovation relies heavily on creativity and critical thinking. Therefore, we have to find ways to harness the creative process, brainstorming, and reasoning skills . We’ve seen how organizations often fail to do so due to high l...

1. Most predictions are wrong and the only thing we can do is manage our expectations and reactions.
2. Trial and error processes harness innovation, while centralized authorities stifle it. 
3. Presents and patents are some of the best ways to enco...

A study conducted by economist Paul Ormerod states that the extinction rate of companies and species are quite similar over a time frame of 500 million years. Who could’ve predicted that?

In another experiment from the book, experts tried to fo...

Therefore, predictions are lucky guesses, and they should not be treated as facts. Most likely, they will fail to come true, and we have to learn how to manage our emotions when it happens. But how do we do that?

Another example is the Gulf War in Iraq. A general on the battlefield suggested that the army won over some employees of Saddam Hussein, but the high-level American authorities ignored them. Faced with this issue, individuals defied orders and formed a successful collaboration between citiz...

Hartford suggests that if you want to enhance innovation , there are two ways to do this. The first one is patenting. By giving monopoly over an idea to the one that came up with ...

Another way to stimulate innovation is by awarding goal-oriented prizes . Not only will they be a source of praise for the researchers and their results, but they will also enhance competition and the discovery of new findings. Usually,...

The 30-year old who wants to explore universal reads and learn about earthly concerns, the philosophy or psychology student who wants to gain a deeper understanding of their topics of interest, or anyone who wants to learn how to overcome failure.

He addresses some key matters humanity is finding hard to overcome, such as climate change, poverty , financial crisis, or innovative processes. 

This book reveals essential lessons, suitable for any typ...