Adapt

«We all need a critic, and for most of us the inner critic is not nearly frank enough. We need someone who can help us hold those two jostling thoughts at the same time: 'I am not a failure - but I have made a mistake'.»

Well, ask any scientist (and especially evolutionary biologists) how they feel about failure and adapting to it and you will see why this is yet another case of preaching to the choir. All in all, this book is a long essay on why you should not only accept failure but embrace it. The main thesis: our world is by far to complex to come up with only one valid plan that will lead to success. Instead you will have to try lots of different plans and in the end hopefully one will work. And you shouldn't sweat too much about it, because most of the time failure is pretty cheap, especially compared to the outcomes of successful 'experiments'.

It gives lots of nice examples of how small, bottom-up projects – which are allowed to fail – ultimately not only drive adaption but also can lead to great breakthroughs, from engineering the Spitfire over Randomized Controlled Trials and military strategy over to foreign aid and much more. If I remember correctly it was The Geek Manifesto which argued much in the same direction: RCTs and critically checking outcomes is something that would improve many areas of live, especially policy making. Adapt will give you pretty good idea why failure, combined with feedback loops, is a thing you should try.

Though the evolutionary biologist in me now really wants to read a book based on the Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution, explaining why most of the decisions you make don't matter that much and why you're not so important after all.

Recommended for: those who feel depressed about their failures.