As previously observed, extraordinary successes tend to be considered extraordinaryprecisely because it is hard to teach (relative to the then-current level of understanding and systematization). On the other hand, famous failures are much more likely to contain lessons on what to avoid next time.
Books about epic screwups have constituted some of my more enlightening reading. Do you have any such books to recommend?
Please break up multiple recommendations into multiple comments, one book per comment, so they can be voted on and discussed separately. And please say at least a little about the book's subject and what sort of lesson you learned from it.
from Wikipedia:
The Best and the Brightest (1972) is an account by journalist David Halberstam of the origins of the Vietnam War. The focus of the book is on the foreign policy crafted by the academics and intellectuals who were in John F. Kennedy's administration, and the consequences of those policies in Vietnam.
One distinction made by the book is the difference between acting based on reasoning or based on principles. The men acting based on reasoning got good results, but in times of high stress or confusion they made bad decisions.
Followup to: Unteachable Excellence
As previously observed, extraordinary successes tend to be considered extraordinary precisely because it is hard to teach (relative to the then-current level of understanding and systematization). On the other hand, famous failures are much more likely to contain lessons on what to avoid next time.
Books about epic screwups have constituted some of my more enlightening reading. Do you have any such books to recommend?
Please break up multiple recommendations into multiple comments, one book per comment, so they can be voted on and discussed separately. And please say at least a little about the book's subject and what sort of lesson you learned from it.