The books above are fictional, in the sense that they don't exist. (The exception is Luck.)
They represent collections of articles from this blog of the past couple of years, collated together by theme.
Over the next few months I’m going to share some of these books with you. In doing so, I’ll share a table of contents, which will link to relevant articles from this blog.
Before I go into newer articles (from ~2020 onwards), I thought I’d start with a short book that actually exists. Luck, which has been available on Kindle since 2017. (It was available in print, and I still have some copies in my office, but it wasn't worth keeping available.)
The book hasn’t set the world on fire, for several good reasons. For one, I’ve done little to promote the book. For another, it’s not very long and requires a small amount of tender love and care.
I’m ambivalent about this book. It needs some TLC, but I’m proud of the ideas in there.
Contents
- How to be lucky
- Good luck = the absence of bad luck
- On hunting black swans
- Lessons and nonlessons
- A New Contentism
- To win, don’t lose
- Planning for multiple futures
- Adventures in the multiverse
- Risk management is luck management
- The biggest risks we take aren’t swashbuckling risks
- Applying the concepts of corporate risk management to our personal lives
- Risk management isn’t necessarily about “winning” or “losing”
- Managing risk by reducing likelihood and reducing impact
- “The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn’t have a space program”
- Insurance is a foundational risk management tool, but it doesn’t cover all contingencies
- Diversification is important – not only with investments, but life in general
- The relationship between luck and morality
- Domesticating uncertainty – barbell strategies
Articles that I'd probably add to a new edition include:
- Money is not the measure (risk edition)
- “Risk management” just became sexy
- Career risk and how to manage it
- Living in a golden age, under the sword of Damocles (Or: dentists, criminals, terrorism, furniture, and Kim Kardashian)
- The rugby world cup, the All Blacks, and luck
- You can’t short the apocalypse – so why not be optimistic?
- Hedonic treadmills, psychological immune systems, and a call for boldness
Enjoy the links! And if you’d really like to see an updated version of this book on Kindle or in print, let me know.
