Predictable Surprises: The Disasters You Should Have Seen Coming, and How to Prevent Them (Leadership for the Common Good)

This book underscores how well-wishing and positive thinking are not effective ways of handling risks of business. It's a great book to help you get past the human tendancies to think and hope and actually PLAN for the future.

The book jumps around but makes clear and valid points. A great eye opener! I would recommend this to students, leaders, informed citizens...just about anybody. I'm definitely getting more copies for friends and loved ones.

Anyone who has worked for some sort of organization, government agency, business, university or whatever, will empathise with "Predictable Surprises" by Bazerman and Watkins. This book focuses on the early and late warning signs, the cover-ups, the denials, and the eventual consequences of failing to take action to avert disaster. I've been in far too many situations where I observed that the peple "in charge" (really??)... Read Full Review

The authors have found a memorable phrase to describe a depressingly common phenomenon - the occurrence of a disaster or failure that has been widely and often publicly predicted. The term `predictable surprise' will undoubtedly enter the managerial and political language. They have provided a valuable analysis of why these predictable disasters occur and what can be done to prevent them (while recognizing that there are... Read Full Review

Yes, we should have forseen 9/11, and Enron as well. This book rightfully points out that there were warning signs aplenty. But what does this really say of the future. So I first turned to Chapter 10, Future Predictable Surprises. I have to admit, I was surprised. Their entries in this category: Campaign-Finance Reform; Auditor Independence; Global Depletion of Fish Stocks; Government Subsidies, particularly in agriculture;... Read Full Review