Synopsis
Economist Best Books of the Year
Financial Times Business Book of the Month
Read by the author, Andrew McAfee, and Sean Patrick Hopkins. With a foreword by Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.
'A handbook for disruptors' – Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google
We’re living in a time of amazing innovation, but we’re not paying enough attention to one of the most important of all: the innovation to the company itself. Now, bestselling author of The Second Machine Age, Andrew McAfee, explains how engineers and geeks are changing the world of business – with extraordinary results.
A new model is being pioneered by geeks; a radical new mindset that has shifted the paradigm entirely on what a business can – and should – be. They do not follow the rules of the Industrial era, with their hierarchies and bureaucratic ways of thinking. They do not follow the principles preached in business schools since the dawn of time. They have all dedicated themselves to approaching business as a geek would: through trial and error, egalitarianism, evidence and stress-testing ideas in a group setting – rather than relying on the boss’s instincts.
By investigating and surveying the contemporary research in psychology, economics and the behavioural sciences, as well as first-hand accounts from the ‘geek’ leaders of today, McAfee's groundbreaking exploration of this emerging phenomenon gets to the heart of the tectonic shifts taking place all over the business world. We have entered a new age. And this age will transform how we achieve great things, now and into the future. The future is geek.
'The most compelling analysis I've seen of what Silicon Valley has learned about building more effective organisations' – Adam Grant, host of TED podcast Re: Thinking and No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again
Details
Reviews
“Andy understands that we geeks haven’t just been creating new technologies in Silicon Valley — we’ve also been creating new and improved ways to run a company in a world permeated by tech. Here he distills what we’ve come up with. This book is a handbook for disruptors”Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google
“Andrew McAfee's The Geek Way outlines what has become a critical advantage for the United States, for Silicon Valley, and for many companies. If you wish to understand the last twenty years of life, and probably the next twenty as well, this book is essential reading”Tyler Cowen, author of Big Business
“A valuable guide for would-be economic, technical, and cultural disruptors”Kirkus
“McAfee embraces the definition of geekiness as obsessive and celebrates the burning curiosity that drives inquiry into both the how and the why of solutions. This...will be a welcome addition to business collections in academic and public libraries”Booklist
