The Art of Fairness
On sale
5th November 2020
Price: £20
‘David Bodanis is an enthralling storyteller. Prepare to be taken on a surprising, wide-ranging and ultimately inspiring journey to explore what makes us human’ Tim Harford
Can you succeed without being a terrible person? We often think not: recognising that, as the old saying has it, ‘nice guys finish last’. But does that mean you have to go to the other extreme, and be a bully or Machiavellian to get anything done?
In THE ART OF FAIRNESS, David Bodanis uses thrilling historical case studies to show there’s a better path, leading neatly in between. He reveals how it was fairness, applied with skill, that led the Empire State Building to be constructed in barely a year – and how the same techniques brought a quiet English debutante to become an acclaimed jungle guerrilla fighter. In ten vivid profiles – featuring pilots, presidents, and even the producer of Game of Thrones – we see that the path to greatness doesn’t require crushing displays of power or tyrannical ego. Simple fair decency can prevail.
With surprising insights from across history – including the downfall of the very man who popularised the phrase ‘nice guys finish last’ – THE ART OF FAIRNESS charts a refreshing and sustainable new approach to cultivating integrity and influence.
Can you succeed without being a terrible person? We often think not: recognising that, as the old saying has it, ‘nice guys finish last’. But does that mean you have to go to the other extreme, and be a bully or Machiavellian to get anything done?
In THE ART OF FAIRNESS, David Bodanis uses thrilling historical case studies to show there’s a better path, leading neatly in between. He reveals how it was fairness, applied with skill, that led the Empire State Building to be constructed in barely a year – and how the same techniques brought a quiet English debutante to become an acclaimed jungle guerrilla fighter. In ten vivid profiles – featuring pilots, presidents, and even the producer of Game of Thrones – we see that the path to greatness doesn’t require crushing displays of power or tyrannical ego. Simple fair decency can prevail.
With surprising insights from across history – including the downfall of the very man who popularised the phrase ‘nice guys finish last’ – THE ART OF FAIRNESS charts a refreshing and sustainable new approach to cultivating integrity and influence.
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Reviews
The core message can be found in the subtitle: 'The power of decency in a world turned mean' ... It is a wise lesson
[Fairness] is one of those senses which drives our feelings much more than our thoughts ... I cannot think of a topic more in need of the kind of intelligent study which David Bodanis unfailingly provides
This is a delightful book about a vitally important subject - and David Bodanis is an enthralling storyteller. Prepare to be taken on a surprising, wide-ranging and ultimately inspiring journey to explore what makes us human - and how decency and kindness can prevail even in dark times. You won't be able to forget this book; and you won't want to
Bodanis' book is more than a business book, it is a primer for anyone fed up with the meanness of much of society, and looking for inspiration to do better - and fix things for others
Fascinating
Bodanis is a superb storyteller ... [he] is clearly one of the good guys and this book is a cheering, timely, inspirational reminder, as we witness a new dawn in the American presidency, that they - we - can succeed, without losing our souls