Revue de presse
Read this book for pleasure, and indirectly - obliquely - you will gain invaluable insights into how successful decisions are made. -- Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England
John Kay has long been our wittiest and most perceptive interpreter of economic theory. And now that circumstances have given the theory a bit of a kicking, he has become the most challengingly lateral: here is an ingenious riff about unintended consequences. Kay argues that hunger for profit is rarely satisfying. Instead, messianic commitment to products and consumers makes businesses enduringly successful. But Obliquity is not so much humble recantation as brilliant re-statement: this on-the-money re-design of economics proves the efficiency of markets. -- Stephen Bayley, architecture and design critic for The Observer
Obliquity is a very timely and clever book because it is written by one who sees clearly that, in place of the crashing intellectual and moral certainties that appeared to underpin our understandings of the modern world, we need a heavy dose of human understanding and indeed humility. -- Anthony Seldon
From Vietnam to Iraq, Sony to ICI, Chess to mountaineering, John Kay tells a fast-paced detective story as he searches for the surprising secret to success in politics, business and life. Kay is persuasive, rigorous, creative and wise. Brilliant. -- Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist and The Logic of Life
John Kay is an admirable debunker of myths and false beliefs -- he can see substantial things others don't. Read this book. -- Nassim N Taleb, author of The Black Swan
John Kay builds on a great philosophical tradition - stretching back through Charles Darwin and Adam Smith - that understands how remarkable things can be achieved without anybody understanding how or even intending them. He has taken this idea and applied it with style to modern conundrums from the physics behind Beckham's goals to the mathematics behind Buffett's riches. A great book. -- Matt Ridley, author Genome and Nature Via Nurture
An elegant new book...Kay applies his insight to art, politics, sport and family life -- Heather Stewart ― Observer
Obliquity is a characteristic John Kay production. It is a pleasure to read -- Howard Davies ― Financial Times
Fascinating -- Richard Lambert, Director-General of the CBI
Kay is one of our most dependably perceptive and interesting economic commentators and he wields a deft pen, so the pages of Obliquity fly by. -- John McLaren ― Management Today
How rare is it for an academic economist to write with such clarity, intelligence and courage. And, in these troubled, confusing times, how desperately we need other dismal scientists to follow John Kay's shining example. -- Liam Halligan ― Spectator Business
One of our cleverest thinkers. -- Diana Coyle ― Independent Published On: 2010-04-30
This is a fascinating book that challenges all sorts of assumptions. ― British Airways Business Life
It is possibly a lukewarm tribute to say that John Kay is one of the most engaging and accessible writers on economics in Britain today. -- David Floyd ― Morning Star Published On: 2010-04-21
Kay is both a first-class economist and an excellent writer -- Financial Times
Présentation de l'éditeur
If you want to go in one direction, the best route may involve going in another. This is the concept of 'obliquity': paradoxical as it sounds, many goals are more likely to be achieved when pursued indirectly. Whether overcoming geographical obstacles, winning decisive battles or meeting sales targets, history shows that oblique approaches are the most successful, especially in difficult terrain.
Pre-eminent economist John Kay applies his provocative, universal theory to everything from international business to town planning and from football to managing forest fires. He shows why the most profitable companies are not always the most profit-oriented; why the richest men and women are not the most materia
