#1715

Mentioned in 14 episodes

The Unaccountability Machine

Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions - and How The World Lost its Mind

Book • 2024

In 'The Unaccountability Machine', Dan Davies explores why large systems, including markets, institutions, and governments, often produce outcomes that no one intends.

He draws on the work of Stafford Beer, a pioneer in management cybernetics, to explain how organizations can be seen as artificial intelligences making decisions independent of their members' intentions.

Davies critiques the current state of management and economic systems, highlighting the concept of 'accountability sinks' where negative feedback is ignored, and discusses the consequences of these systemic failures, including the 2008 financial crisis.

The book is a blend of part-biography and part-political thriller, offering a compelling narrative on the need for better accountability and decision-making processes.

Mentioned by

Mentioned in 14 episodes

Recommended by

Alistair Croll

as a book he has literally made an entire conference theme out of this year.

582 snips

Just evil enough: Subversive marketing strategies for startups | Alistair Croll (author, advisor, entrepreneur)

Mentioned by

Rory Sutherland

as a book exploring unaccountability traps in business.

157 snips

Rory Sutherland on why marketing is the answer to economic growth

Recommended by

Sebastian Gehrmann

as a recently published book about how organizations fail to build accountability processes.

130 snips

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Recommended by

Rory Stewart

; explores unaccountability in large systems and how it leads to poor decisions.

118 snips

404. Question Time: How Starmer Fell Into Farage's Immigration Trap

Mentioned by

Joe Weisenthal

as the author of the book discussed in the podcast.

91 snips

The Theory That Explains Why Everyone Went Crazy

Mentioned by

Patrick McKenzie

Dan Davies

's new book.

58 snips

Balancing control and chaos: cybernetics, fraud, and modern organizations with Dan Davies

Erwähnt von

Alexander Schatten

im Zusammenhang mit der zunehmenden Strukturierung und Standardisierung in Organisationen.

48 snips

121 — Künstliche Unintelligenz

Mentioned by

Rory Sutherland

when talking about acountability

40 snips

Interview: Rory Sutherland, author of Alchemy, on why irrational ideas work

Mentioned by

Rory Sutherland

when discussing the impact of optimization models on human preference and decision-making.

27 snips

Rory Sutherland – Are We Now Too Impatient to Be Intelligent?

Mentioned by

Martin Reeves

as the author's latest book, examining why companies and governments create unwanted outcomes.

17 snips

The Unaccountability Machine with Dan Davies

Mentioned by

Rory Stewart

as one of the books he is currently reading, focusing on the complexities of modern societies and accountability.

16 snips

321. Question Time: Why do politicians leak to the press?

Mentioned by

Ben Mathis-Lilley

when discussing how organizations fail by focusing on specific numbers and neglecting other planning.

12 snips

Behind the Democrats’ Losing Strategy

Mentioned by

Michael Caley

and

Mike Goodman

as the subject of the podcast episode, discussing its ideas on business, capitalism, and European football.

11 snips

The Cybernetics of Football with Dan Davies

Mentioned by

Jacob Shapiro

in relation to his negative view on stable coins.

Stablecoins and the Geopolitics of Trust

Recommended by

Jennifer Pahlka

as a fantastic exploration of why when things go very wrong in our society, at the end of the day, after all of the investigations, there's sort of no one to blame.