The Economist ' s Best Books of 2023 Forbes Top 10 Business Books of 2023 Financial
Times' Monthly Best Business Books to Read Pick 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 norms: 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 answer: 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.
