Description
Book SynopsisThe first component of intelligence involves effective adaptation to an environment. In order to adapt effectively, organizations require resources, capabilities at using them, knowledge about the worlds in which they exist, good fortune, and good decisions. They typically face competition for resources and uncertainties about the future. Many, but possibly not all, of the factors determining their fates are outside their control. Populations of organizations and individual organizations survive, in part, presumably because they possess adaptive intelligence; but survival is by no means assured. The second component of intelligence involves the elegance of interpretations of the experiences of life. Such interpretations encompass both theories of history and philosophies of meaning, but they go beyond such things to comprehend the grubby details of daily existence. Interpretations decorate human existence. They make a claim to significance that is independent of their contribution t
Trade Review
James March is a pioneer in the field of organizational decision making. For decades March, perhaps the wisest philosopher of management, has illuminated how humans think and behave, and he continues to do so in this book. He begins by reminding us of just how deeply beholden we have become, in our organizational lives, to the idea of experiential learning.... The problem is that learning from experience involves serious complications, ones that are intrinsic to the nature of experience itself and which are explored in the body of this book.... Besides being a broadly erudite scholar, March is also a poet, and his talent shines through in the depth of the insight he offers, the breadth of allusion he portrays, and the concise language he uses. Though this book is short, it is challenging: Don't pick it up looking for quick, easy lessons. Rather, be ready to ponder your assumptions about learning from experience in work and life. The rewards are here.
-- Jeff Kehoe * Harvard Business Review *
