Black Box Thinking

The way we see failure can often cloud our judgement of how we should act. This book provides real life examples where failure has be interpreted as something that needs to be covered up or as something that pushes us forward.

Failure is the next step in learning. A number of industries and cultures discourage failure which leads to cover ups and pushing the blame, stifling innovation and accountability. There are examples of why we want to find a single source of accountability and how easy it is to blame without considering the wider picture.

One industry know for its innovation is aviation. Check lists, flight recording and black boxes pave the way for true understanding of how learning from mistakes and finding out why a mistake has occurred and how by reviewing information, metrics and circumstances, aviation has become one of the safest ways to travel.

This book encourages reflection on how we interpret data and use it. Are we ignoring information that supports the opposite argument? Do we only see and hear the evidence that supports out belief?

Cognitive dissonance is something that effects the way we take information and understand it against what makes us, such as beliefs and values.

Matthew Syed provides fascinating examples of how Cognitive dissonance can cause even the most caring and noble individuals to become blind to new information.

Innovation is vital to any business and in today’s world of knowledge work, if you do not innovated, you will be left behind.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in understand mindset and innovation.