Sorry I didn't get to read it before the time ran out. I didnt know you couldnt renew once archived. I was looking forward to reading it aswell

This is a fascinating book that uses interesting, real-world examples to demonstrate that life is neither deterministic nor governed by free will. Instead, random events become data points that humans use to make thoughtful decisions. Computer models will never be perfect predictors of human behavior because they can never account for all the influences that affect patterns. Human knowledge can't be replicated by machines.

Trial and error trumps theory, but evaluation and persistence are required to know when to pursue a course of action and when to acknowledge failure. We create serendipity by asking good questions and conducting good experiments. And sometimes random events create an environment that allows ideas to sweep the world.

This is both a business book and a science book. A passing familiarity with quantum mechanics would be helpful in understanding it.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

This book is both quite good and quite bad. The first section is excellent while the third section is terrible. The middle third is okay. If you decide to read this book I would probably put it down after reading the first part. Should decide to read part 2 that is okay but part 3 is not worth anyone's time.
I was also put off by the author's overall approach. He wrote his book as a self-help book when it really was a book about science.

Containing a wealth of detail about stories in the Science and Business worlds, readers will all undoubtedly learn something new from this book. However, in places it seemed a bit ‘slow,’ and a bit of a slog.

The sheer amount of information in the book is very impressive. We learn about the trials and errors involved in developing the Model T Ford (Kindle 37%) and the extraordinary experiment of doubling workers wages in 1914 (77%). We hear of the vagaries surrounding the development of penicillin (42%) and the air safety issues involved in computers overriding pilots (55%). I was particularly interested in the analysis of Boeing's mistakes in rushing the 737Max to market, as I hadn’t previously realised the systemic failures contributing to the company’s decision making processes (66%).

However, there were two aspects of the book which I found less appealing.

Firstly some of the chapters seemed to be labouring points which seemed obvious. For example chapter 2 is about how no process can avoid unexpected events. I couldn't see why that point needed making. We’ve all heard of ships hitting icebergs. There’s nothing surprising in the idea that events can overcome the best processes. Yet we have a whole chapter dedicated to it.

Then chapter 3 is about how more of the same works in stable conditions. Yes but again that seemed rather obvious, so I couldn’t really see why we needed the illustrative points in that chapter. By about chapter 5 I was feeling distinctly tempted to give up with the book as I just couldn’t see where it was going (other than providing lots of interesting anecdotes).

Secondly, I found the prose a bit of a slog in places. Writers like Michael Shermer and Richard Dawkins have a sharp, clear and concise style which seems to carry the reader to conclusions (although readers may not always agree with them). In this book the chapters felt more of a slog, working through different sets of issues, with different examples, but not always building in a clear way to a specific conclusion. Consequently I had to fight the temptation to skip ahead in several places, and this is not normally something which I experience with books on these kinds of themes.

Despite these two niggles, on balance I’m glad that I persevered with the book, as I did enjoy hearing about and reflecting on the wide range of examples cited. I think this is definitely a book which readers will get something from, it just might take a bit of patience in places.

This is an honest review based on an Advanced Review Copy of the text.

Interesting book to read.. talks about holistic ways of cooperation that makes succes. Algoritmes.. and some other vague but interesting subjects.

Trial, Error, and Success gave many good insights and life lessons to apply in life, would recommend everyone to give it a shot.