Book Review: Little Bets – How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries

Posted: April 28, 2011

This is one man’s roadmap for innovation. The book is an example-rich argument for innovating in a particular way—by deliberately experimenting and taking small exploratory steps in novel directions. Some little bets will not pay off, of course, in which case little is lost; but others may pay off in big ways. The point is that good ideas rarely emerge fully formed; rather they evolve in a discursive and unpredictable fashion. Its claims are often attractive, but the analytical apparatus can be shaky: correlation is confused with causation; counter-evidence is ignored (such as those who put down small bets but never enjoy large returns); the role of circumstance or luck is underestimated; and some facts seem cherry-picked to push the message.

Reference: David A. Shaywitz reviews, Where the Action Is