Loonshots

Loonshots

* Instant Wall Street Journal bestseller * Translated into 18 languages* #1 Most Recommended Book of the year (Bloomberg annual survey of CEOs and entrepreneurs)* An Bloomberg, Financial Times, Forbes, Inc., Newsweek, Strategy + Business, Tech Crunch, Washington Post Best Business Book of the year* Recommended by Bill Gates, Daniel Kahneman, Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Pink, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, Sid Mukherjee, Tim FerrissWhy do good teams kill great ideas?Loonshots reveals a surprising new way of thinking about the mysteries of group behavior that challenges everything we thought we knew about nurturing radical breakthroughs.Safi Bahcall, a physicist and entrepreneur, shows why teams, companies, or any group with a mission will suddenly change from embracing new ideas to 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 a new kind of science can help us become the initiators, rather than the victims, of innovative surprise.Over the past decade, researchers have been applying the tools and techniques of this new science?the science of phase transitions?to understand how birds flock, fish swim, brains work, people vote, diseases erupt, and ecosystems collapse. Loonshots is the first to apply this science to the spread of breakthrough ideas. Bahcall distills these insights into practical lessons creatives, entrepreneurs, and visionaries can use to change our world.Along the way, readers will learn how chickens saved millions of lives, what James Bond and Lipitor have in common, what the movie The Imitation Game got wrong about World War II, and what really killed Pan Am, Polaroid, and the Qing Dynasty.?If The Da Vinci Code and Freakonomics had a child together, it would be called Loonshots.? ?Senator Bob KerreyReview* Washington Post's "10 Leadership Books to Watch for in 2019" * Newsweek's "Best of Summer Books" * Financial Times' "Summer Books of 2019 * Thrive Global's "Top Books on Leadership" * Inc.com's "10 Business Books You Need to Read in 2019" * Business Insider's "14 Books Everyone Will Be Reading in 2019" * Management Today's "Top Business Books to Read in 2019" "A groundbreaking book that spans industries and time." ?Newsweek"Loonshots crystallizes crucial lessons about innovation and collaboration more exquisitely than any book I've read. Beyond that, it's an absolute page-turner, packed with scintillating stories of world-changing ideas." ?David Epstein, #1 NYT bestselling author of Range and The Sports Gene?A witty, invigorating exploration of human behaviour and discovery.? ?Nature?An ambitious and entertaining effort to lay out some fundamental laws of success and uncover the truth about successful group behavior? Bahcall makes the whole idea sing by bringing in references from across business, history, cinema and science.? ?Financial Times"This thorough, fascinating study will appeal to a broader audience than just business wonks." ?Booklist?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.? ?Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow ?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.? ?Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies"The success of Loonshots is a case study in the power of story and humor. James Bond, Isaac Newton, Jane Aust