In this book, Frederick P. Brooks discusses several key issues in software engineering, most notably 'Brooks's Law,' which states that adding manpower to a late software project makes it later. The book explores the complexities of large programming projects, the difficulties in measuring work in 'man-months,' and the importance of effective communication and team management. It also includes insights from Brooks's experience managing the development of IBM's System/360 and OS/360.
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.
In 'Lying for Money,' Dan Davies delves into the world of financial fraud, explaining how such crimes work by manipulating institutional psychology. The book categorizes frauds into four main types: long firm, counterfeiting, control fraud, and market crimes. Davies uses historical and contemporary examples, such as the Great Salad Oil swindle and the Theranos scandal, to illustrate how these frauds operate and how they shape the development of the modern world economy. The book emphasizes the systemic weaknesses that fraudsters exploit and the importance of maintaining a skeptical approach to unusually rapid growth.
Why is it seemingly so difficult to find a human to speak to when having an issue with your bank or mobile phone company? And if you do, why do they sound like robots and/or aren’t empowered to make a decision that will solve your problem? More broadly and worryingly, why is it nearly impossible to hold an individual accountable for decisions that led to a major societal or organisational calamity like the Global Financial Crisis, or the UK’s Post Office Scandal?
Something is going on, and today, we're going to talk about it. My guest is author Dan Davies, and we are talking about his latest book, The Unaccountability Machine - Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions and How the World Lost Its Mind. The book was long-listed for the Financial Times and Schroder's Business Books of the Year.
Dan is a former investment banker turned author. His previous book, Lying for Money, was about the 2008 global financial crisis in which no banker went to jail. Dan became interested in why that was the case and to see if the same types of causes for that exist elsewhere. And they do. And it led him to write The Unaccountability Machine.
Dan also has a wonderful term called the “accountability sink”, in which a human system delegates decision-making to a rule book rather than an individual, which means that when something goes wrong, no one is to blame. We get into all of that and so much more.
Show notes:
-The Unaccountability Machine: https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/ -Dan’s newsletter: https://backofmind.substack.com/ -Dan’s author page: https://profilebooks.com/contributor/dan-davies/ -Lying for Money: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38605195-lying-for-money?from_search=true -Dan’s previous appearance on the podcast: https://allthingsrisk.libsyn.com/ep-89-dan-davies-lying-for-money -Stafford Beer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stafford_Beer -Brian Eno: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Eno -“Designing Freedom”, Stafford Beer’s lectures from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNVZ3IuNlXY&list=PLW6YNX5jIRDEvjZz0_icNAaelHXArzfc- -Norbert Wiener: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norbert_Wiener -Neural Networks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_network_(machine_learning) -Variety engineering: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variety_(cybernetics) -Good regulator in management cybernetics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_regulator -Ben Recht: https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~brecht/bio.html -Jen Pahlka’s Recoding America: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61796680-recoding-america -William Butler Adams / Brompton Bicycles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Butler-Adams
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