Little Bets
How breakthrough ideas emerge from small discoveries
Published on 5. May 2011
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-1-84794-047-6 (ISBN)
Description
How can errors produce perfection?
How can failure fuel ambition?
How can confusion enhance creativity?
The answer: little bets.
The little bets approach is about using negativity to positive effect. If your plans fall apart, refine them; if you don't know where best to begin, just begin somewhere. Every decision is a risk: take a chance and see what happens.
In Little Bets, leading business consultant Peter Sims turns problems on their heads and outlines a counter-intuitive path to perfection. Using real-life case studies from the worlds of business, design, warfare and even comedy, he shows that it can be more rational to act first and think later, more efficient to fail and find out what doesn't work. It's a flexible philosophy that has both saved corporate giants such as Apple and Pixar and inspired the third-world microfinancing industry.
When success is the only acceptable outcome, Little Bets advocates a bold and radical approach in which failure is good, questions are solutions, and excellence is not a means but an end.
How can failure fuel ambition?
How can confusion enhance creativity?
The answer: little bets.
The little bets approach is about using negativity to positive effect. If your plans fall apart, refine them; if you don't know where best to begin, just begin somewhere. Every decision is a risk: take a chance and see what happens.
In Little Bets, leading business consultant Peter Sims turns problems on their heads and outlines a counter-intuitive path to perfection. Using real-life case studies from the worlds of business, design, warfare and even comedy, he shows that it can be more rational to act first and think later, more efficient to fail and find out what doesn't work. It's a flexible philosophy that has both saved corporate giants such as Apple and Pixar and inspired the third-world microfinancing industry.
When success is the only acceptable outcome, Little Bets advocates a bold and radical approach in which failure is good, questions are solutions, and excellence is not a means but an end.
Reviews / Votes
I have always believed that constant innovation is core to success. The methods Peter Sims provides in the highly engaging Little Bets will help you challenge the status quo and discover extraordinary new possibilities in whatever endeavor you're engaged in. -- Howard Schultz * Chairman and CEO of Starbucks * Want a big idea? Start little. Whether you're an entrepreneur or an artist, Peter Sims shows you how big breakthroughs start with little bets. -- Chip Heath * Author of 'Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard' * With examples that range from traditional businesses to stand-up comedians, Peter Sims shows that the path to big success is lined with small failures. Behind every breakthrough idea is often a host of experiments that flopped - and Sims shows how to leverage these "little bets" to produce lasting results. This is a powerful and practical book. -- Daniel H. Pink * Author of 'Drive' and 'A Whole New Mind' * A fascinating and revealing journey through the real-life dynamics of the creative process. Vividly written and bustling with examples from comedy to architecture, Little Bets is a wonderful example of itself: a big idea that takes shape through many small discoveries. I highly recommend it for anyone with a serious interest in cultivating creativity in business, education or in their own lives. -- Sir Ken Robinson In Little Bets, Peter Sims convincingly argues that we need a new model of creativity, focused around gradual improvement and constant innovation. If you're not learning while doing, Sims points out, then you're probably doing it wrong. -- Jonah Lehrer * Author of 'The Decisive Moment' *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
440 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84794-047-6 (9781847940476)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Peter Sims is the co-author with Bill George of the Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek bestselling book True North. His work has appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Fortune and TechCrunch and he is a contributor to the Reuters and Harvard Business Review blogs. He received an MBA from Stanford Business School, where he and several classmates established a popular course on leadership. He has spoken or advised at such organisations as Cisco Systems, Eli Lilly, Current Media, Molson Coors, Qualcomm and Frost & Sullivan. He previously worked in venture capital with Summit Partners, a leading investment company, and was part of the team that established the firm's London office.