The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset that Drives Extraordinary Results
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-12-13 06:21:51
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Andrew McAfee
- ISBN：0316436704
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
In this "handbook for disruptors" （Eric Schmidt）， The Geek Way reveals a new way to get big things done。 It will change the way you think about work， teams， projects， and culture， and give you the insight and tools you need to harness our human superpowers of learning and cooperation。 What is “being geeky？” It’s being a perennially curious person， one who's not afraid to tackle hard problems and embrace unconventional solutions。 McAfee shows how the geeks have created a new culture based around four science， ownership， speed， and openness。 The geek way seems odd at first。 It's not deferential to experts， fond of planning and process， afraid of mistakes， or obsessed with "winning。" But it explains everything from why Montessori babies turn out to be creative tinkerers to how newcomers are disrupting industry after industry （and still just getting started）。
When all four norms are in place， a culture emerges that is freewheeling， fast-moving， egalitarian， evidence-driven， argumentative， and autonomous。 Why does the geek way work so much better？ McAfee provides an original because it taps 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， we quickly figure out how to build reusable spaceships and self-correcting organizations。 Under the wrong conditions， though， we create bureaucracy， chronic delays， cultures of silence， and the other classic dysfunctions of the Industrial Era。
Mixing cutting-edge science， history， analysis， and stories that show the geek way in action， McAfee offers a new way to see the world and empowering tools for seizing the big opportunities of today and tomorrow。
When all four norms are in place， a culture emerges that is freewheeling， fast-moving， egalitarian， evidence-driven， argumentative， and autonomous。 Why does the geek way work so much better？ McAfee provides an original because it taps 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， we quickly figure out how to build reusable spaceships and self-correcting organizations。 Under the wrong conditions， though， we create bureaucracy， chronic delays， cultures of silence， and the other classic dysfunctions of the Industrial Era。
Mixing cutting-edge science， history， analysis， and stories that show the geek way in action， McAfee offers a new way to see the world and empowering tools for seizing the big opportunities of today and tomorrow。
Reviews
Tom Evans
，
‘The Geek Way’ by Andrew McAfee has a simple premise that many could follow – tech companies have a structure and freedom that has allowed rapid growth and innovation while older companies set in their ways have been left in the dust。 Backed by science， psychology and data， McAfee looks at the key reasons why， from speed to autonomy， to the aversion to bureaucracy for companies looking to continuously grow。 There are countless insights here to write down and ponder， especially on how the most su ‘The Geek Way’ by Andrew McAfee has a simple premise that many could follow – tech companies have a structure and freedom that has allowed rapid growth and innovation while older companies set in their ways have been left in the dust。 Backed by science， psychology and data， McAfee looks at the key reasons why， from speed to autonomy， to the aversion to bureaucracy for companies looking to continuously grow。 There are countless insights here to write down and ponder， especially on how the most successful companies react to power structures and the importance of A/B testing。 。。。more
Rafael Ramirez
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Lectura obligada para todos los directores de empresa que quieran ser exitosos en la era de la economía digital que estamos viviendo， especialmente aquellos que encabezan empresas que no serían consideradas como "digitales"， precisamente porque suelen ser las empresas "tradicionales" las que tienen una cultura que tal vez haya funcionado en el pasado pero que ahora deben cambiar o arriesgarse a desaparecer。La premisa principal del libro es que las empresas más exitosas de la economía digital no Lectura obligada para todos los directores de empresa que quieran ser exitosos en la era de la economía digital que estamos viviendo， especialmente aquellos que encabezan empresas que no serían consideradas como "digitales"， precisamente porque suelen ser las empresas "tradicionales" las que tienen una cultura que tal vez haya funcionado en el pasado pero que ahora deben cambiar o arriesgarse a desaparecer。La premisa principal del libro es que las empresas más exitosas de la economía digital no lo han sido fundamentalmente por el hecho de usar tecnología o por haber diseñado una estrategia adecuada （sin restarle importancia a estos factores）， sino por tener una cultura organizacional específica， basada en cuatro principios: ciencia， responsabilidad （"ownership"）， velocidad y apertura。 A lo largo del libro， el autor va dando ejemplos de cómo se viven estas normas culturales en distintas empresas paradigmáticas de la economía digital （como Netflix o Google）。 También hay muchos ejemplos de empresas cuya cultura se ha anquilosado y sigue respondiendo a las necesidades de otras épocas， caracterizadas por líderes cerrados que ven mal el que se cuestione la autoridad， o cuya burocracia y perfeccionismo resultan en procesos lentos de toma de decisiones， las cuales， además， suelen estar basadas en la intuición y prácticas históricas más que en datos y análisis rigurosos。Además de un estilo ágil y ameno， una de las fortalezas del libro es que el autor no se limita a compartir una serie de anécdotas de culturas exitosas sino que sustenta con lógica y argumentos el porqué las normas culturales que ha identificado se han vuelto fundamentales y porqué es tan difícil cambiar una cultura aunque haya un consenso de que las cosas no están funcionando （basándose， por ejemplo， en las enseñanzas de la teoría de juegos; piensen en el dilema del prisionero y el equilibrio de Nash）。Una valiosa adición a la literatura de la dirección de empresas en la economía digital， con enseñanzas valiosas para los líderes que quieran desarrollar una mentalidad digital。 。。。more
Scott Ward
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McAfee， an author of many tech books， now puts the culture of successful companies in front of us。 He asserts that the culture of speed， openness and other elements provide the medium for growth。 He provides data to support his claim， which I’ll discuss below。 While the author claims this new way of operating companies started in the 2000s， and is codified in a Netflix presentation openly shared with everyone， he also says that the crux of the Geek Way is found in a stack of business books sky-h McAfee， an author of many tech books， now puts the culture of successful companies in front of us。 He asserts that the culture of speed， openness and other elements provide the medium for growth。 He provides data to support his claim， which I’ll discuss below。 While the author claims this new way of operating companies started in the 2000s， and is codified in a Netflix presentation openly shared with everyone， he also says that the crux of the Geek Way is found in a stack of business books sky-high。 Which probably would include “Creativity Inc。” by Ed Catmull about Pixar’s culture。 McAfee’s experience makes this a fun read， but for those of us who have read the mile-high stack of business books about cultures of mutual trust—competence， reliability/dependability， openness， acceptance （of failure in particular） and integrity—and driving accountability， responsibility and creativity will hardly learn much here。 We would have seen similar things in Deming’s work， the culture of Westinghouse’s Hawthorne Works operations from the 1920s and 1930s， famous Skunkwork developments for World War II， high-reliability/high-performance military and civil operations teams， and so on。 Much of McAfee’s advice can be found in “Built to Last” by Collins and Porras。 Or McFarland’s “The Breakthrough Company” for the small- or medium-sized enterprises。Like many other business books， McAfee’s suffers from a lack of contradictory evidence。 He and others can write about the 10-50 successful companies practicing the Geek Way。 He cannot or does not uncover if there are thousands of companies practicing the Geek Way outside of Silicon Valley， outside of tech， and how successful or not they are。 There may be many that don’t succeed。 How many tech startups have died， and yet had a Geek Way culture？ How many other business failures—and the number is staggering in the first five years of any one business—weren’t prevented by the Geek Way？ We may never know because Harvard Business School—of which McAfee had been a faculty member—cannot tell us。 There isn’t a database for this。While he applauds the social aspects of Geek companies—cultural evolution—he neglects some of the complaints that have happened even inside his star companies。 There’s still tribalism in society and in tech companies: gender， race， caste are still obstacles to hearing and accepting another’s input or feedback。 While constructive debate might be healthy， psychological safety can be key as McAfee points out。 Still different personality types and different inherent motivational bases need different communication environments， methods and venues for safety and overcoming timidity。 Ethical failures have also occurred in Geek Way companies。 Maybe in a few decades we’ll know if Geek Way companies are “built to last。”The author avoids the trap of multiple anecdotes masquerading as data。 However， McAfee fails to discern the quality of the data he includes。 For example he touts a study of GlassDoor comments。 GlassDoor surveys are self-selected， not random。 This has an inherent bias towards the theoretical ends of company-culture distributions: the really bad and the really good。 So we know nothing of the cultures—perhaps some operating in the Geek Way—of the middlingly rated， middlingly successful companies。 While there are some inherent flaws in McAfee’s approach—but not unique for business books—his work can be important for those who need to hear and want to hear how the successful tech companies are thriving。 。。。more
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the geek way the radical mindset that drives extraordinary results