Meltdown: Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It

A ground-breaking big-ideas book exploring failure in business, government, and life - from the winners of the 2015 Financial Times/McKinsey Bracken-Bower prize. A Financial Times Business BOOK OF THE YEARAN INSIDE LOOK AT THE HORIZON POST OFFICE SCANDAL'Endlessly fascinating, brimming with insight, and more fun than a book about failure has any right to be.' - Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit An accidental overdose in a state-of-the-art hospital.The Starbucks publicity stunt that spectacularly backfired.The mix-up at the 2017 Oscars ceremony.As technology rapidly advances, it brings with it an explosion of complexity that can trip us up. Meltdown uses real-life examples to reveal how errors in thinking, perception, and design lie behind both our everyday mistakes and our most terrifying disasters. It reveals how a five-minute exercise can prevent billion-dollar catastrophes, why teams with fewer experts are better at managing risk, and why diversity is one of our best safeguards against failure. This eye-opening book will change the way you see our complex world - and your place within it.'Essential reading' Martin Ford, bestselling author of Rise of the Robots