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This book has 8 recommendations
Daniel Kahneman (Nobel Prize Winner, Author)
This book has everything: new ideas, bold insights, entertaining history and convincing analysis. Not to be missed by anyone who wants to understand how ideas change the world.Tim Ferriss (Author, Entrepreneur, Investor)
It really is [a damn good book]. So I encourage people, loonshots.com, take a look at the book. And if you’re like, “I still need to be sold,” okay. Go read up on Safi and you’ll be like, “Okay, there are probably additional things that I could learn from Safi and from the historical examples that you weave together, right?” It’s really the way that I like to learn personally and I think it’s the way a lot of humans learn as you pointed out, is through stories that illustrate points. And it’s tempting I think, and this is another thing that impresses me about you, is to, from the influence of, in some cases academics too, to speak in abstractions and conceptual frameworks without the real life sort of human glue that makes it memorable. And the memorable component is really important because if you don’t have the acronyms, the stickiness of these concepts, how the hell are you going to apply them when the time comes that they are actually important to implement? So check out Loonshots.Robert B. Laughlin (Nobel laureate physicist)
Safi Bahcall extends the principles of emergence to the behavior of groups, creating an entirely new way of thinking about why some succeed and others fail. Safi hits all the right notes: the rhythm is right, the humor is right, the scope is right … everything is right. Loonshots should be required reading for anyone serious about changing the world for the better.Siddhartha Mukherjee (Author)
A wonderful book that explores the beauty, quirkiness and complexity of ideas, Loonshots will both educate and entertain you. If you care about ideas—especially new and out-of-the-box ones—you need to read this book.Robert Sutton (Author)
One of the most intriguing and imaginative books about creativity I’ve ever read … physics meets history meets innovation meets management and organizational design.Vikrant Batra (CMO/HP Inc.)
In this age of noise, constant disturbances and lack of deep thinking, Loonshots is a breath of fresh air. If you want to find and nurture radical ideas that can transform your business, read this incredible book.Edward Sullivan (CEO/Velocity Group)
Some books challenge what you think―Loonshots will challenge how you think. Never before have we been given such a clear and compelling roadmap to questioning norms, embracing the impossible, and shooting for the stars. Loonshots is a must read for anyone passionate or crazy enough to take on today’s biggest challenges.Adam Grant (Author)
A physicist and award-winning biotechnology entrepreneur specializing in cancer drugs reveals how creativity is not just about culture—it’s heavily driven by structure. Applying the physics of phase transitions to a stunning array of entertaining examples, Safi Bahcall shows how entrepreneurs and innovators can set the stage for ideas to flow and breakthroughs to emerge.Amazon description
What do James Bond and Lipitor have in common? What can we learn about human nature and world history from a glass of water?
In Loonshots, physicist and entrepreneur Safi Bahcall reveals a surprising new way of thinking about the mysteries of group behavior that challenges everything we thought we knew about nurturing radical breakthroughs.
Drawing on the science of phase transitions, Bahcall shows why teams, companies, or any group with a mission will suddenly change from embracing wild new ideas to rigidly rejecting them, just as flowing water will suddenly change into brittle ice. Mountains of print have been written about culture. Loonshots identifies the small shifts in structure that control this transition, the same way that temperature controls the change from water to ice.
Using examples that range from the spread of fires in forests to the hunt for terrorists online, and stories of thieves and geniuses and kings, Bahcall shows how this new kind of science helps us understand the behavior of companies and the fate of empires. Loonshots distills these insights into lessons for creatives, entrepreneurs, and visionaries everywhere.
Over the past decade, researchers have been applying the tools and techniques of phase transitions to understand how birds flock, fish swim, brains work, people vote, criminals behave, ideas spread, diseases erupt, and ecosystems collapse. If twentieth-century science was shaped by the search for fundamental laws, like quantum mechanics and gravity, the twenty-first will be shaped by this new kind of science. Loonshots is the first to apply these tools to help all of us unlock our potential to create and nurture the crazy ideas that change the world.
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See more books recommended by
Daniel Kahneman, Tim Ferriss, Robert B. Laughlin, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Robert Sutton, Vikrant Batra, Edward Sullivan, Adam Grant
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Sources
- Loonshots - advance praise
- The Tim Ferriss Show: Safi Bahcall — On Thinking Big, Curing Cancer, and Transforming Industries
- Loonshots - advance praise
- The 19 New Leadership Books to Read in 2019