With a foreword by Reid Hoffman
New York Times bestselling author Andrew McAfee's The Geek
Way tackles a fundamental question: why do some organizations perform
so well in uncertain, fast-changing environments? In this groundbreaking
book, McAfee unveils a revolution hiding in plain sight, explains the
science behind its success, and shows how the geek way can be used by
anyone to stay well ahead of the competition.
McAfee, the coauthor of The Second Machine Age, has had a ringside
seat for the biggest business battles of the 21st century. They haven't
been fair fights. In industry after industry incumbents have been
knocked down and a new crop of leaders -- the business geeks -- have
appeared.
What's their secret? McAfee's answer is that they've created a new
culture: more freewheeling, fast-moving, autonomous, argumentative,
evidence-based, and egalitarian than those that dominated the industrial
era. This culture is based on four great geek norms: science, ownership,
speed, and openness.
Counterintuitive and paradigm-shifting, The Geek Way does more than
just describe these norms and show them in action. It also reveals why
they work so well. McAfee explains how they tap into humanity's
superpower, which is our ability to cooperate intensely and learn
rapidly. By providing insights from the young discipline of cultural
evolution, McAfee shows that when we come together under the right
conditions -- when we follow the geek way -- culture evolves quickly and
an organization excels at innovation, agility, and execution
simultaneously. Under the wrong conditions, meanwhile, things grind to a
halt and we get bureaucracy, chronic delays, cultures of silence, and
other classic dysfunctions of the industrial era.
The Geek Way is a book like no other. It will change and ground your
thinking about building a healthy, high-performing organization and help
you empower individuals, fuel innovation, and seize opportunities.
