History's Worst Decisions

History's Worst Decisions
Author: Stephen Weir
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781740456692

History is strewn with mistakes. Many made by well intentioned people who were bright, intelligent, capable, but just made the wrong decision.

Profiles in Folly

Profiles in Folly
Author: Alan Axelrod
Publisher: Union Square + ORM
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2012-04-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1402798822

The bestselling author of Profiles in Audacity returns with an “illuminating [and] entertaining” study of historically bad decisions (Publishers Weekly). In an engrossing anecdotal format, historian and bestselling author Alan Axelrod turns to the dark side of audacious decision-making—and explores history’s most tragic errors, the people who made them, and why they happened. While Axelrod looks at the hopelessly dumb and the overtly evil, the main focus is on smart people who had the best of intentions—but whose plans went disastrously wrong. The 35 compelling stories include the sailing of the “unsinkable” Titanic; Edward Bernays’s 1929 campaign to recruit women smokers; Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of the Nazis; Ken Lay’s deception with Enron; and even the choice to create a “New Coke” and fix what wasn’t broke. These are cautionary tales that any decision-maker can learn from—albeit with exquisite twists ranging from acerbic to horrific.

Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders

Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders
Author: Rob Neyer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2007-11-01
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1416592148

BLOOPER: BALL SQUIRTS THROUGH BILLY BUCKNER'S LEGS. BLUNDER: BILLY BUCKNER'S MANAGER LEFT HIM IN THE GAME. Baseball bloopers are fun; they're funny, even. A pitcher slips on the mound and his pitch sails over the backstop. An infielder camps under a pop-up...and the ball lands ten feet away. An outfielder tosses a souvenir to a fan...but that was just the second out, and runners are circling the bases (and laughing). Without these moments, the highlight reels wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. Baseball blunders, however, can be tragic, and they will leave diehard fans asking why...why...why? Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders does its best to answer all those whys, exploring the worst decisions and stupidest moments of managers, general managers, owners, and even commissioners. As he did in his Big Book of Baseball Lineups, Rob Neyer provides readers with a fascinating examination of baseball's rich history, this time through the lens of the game's sometimes hilarious, often depressing, and always perplexing blunders. · Which ill-fated move cost the Chicago White Sox a great hitter and the 1919 World Series? · What was Babe Ruth thinking when he became the first (and still the only) player to end a World Series by getting caught trying to steal? · Did playing one-armed Pete Gray in 1945 cost the Browns a pennant? · How did winning a coin toss lead to the Dodgers losing the National League pennant on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'round the World"? · How damaging was the Frank Robinson-for-Milt Pappas deal, really? · Which of Red Sox manager Don Zimmer's mistakes in 1978 was the worst? · Which Yankees trade was even worse than swapping Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps? · What non-move cost Buck Showalter a job and gave Joe Torre the opportunity of a lifetime? · Game 7, 2003 ALCS: Pedro winds up to throw his 123rd pitch...what were you thinking? These are just a few of the legendary (and not-so-legendary) blunders that Neyer analyzes, always with an eye on what happened, why it happened, and how it changed the fickle course of history. And in separate chapters, Neyer also reviews some of the game's worst trades and draft picks and closely examines all the teams that fell just short of first place. Another in the series of Neyer's Big Books of baseball history, Baseball Blunders should win a place in every devoted fan's library.

Great Naval Blunders

Great Naval Blunders
Author: Geoffrey Regan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2017-02
Genre: Marine accidents
ISBN: 9780233005102

Who was responsible for the design of the Admiral Popov, the circular Russian battleship that wouldn't steer straight? Why did Lord Ansonset set out to circumnavigate the world with a crew of Chelsea pensioners? And how did the British cruiser HMS Trinidad manage to torpedo itself in the Arctic? The answers to these questions and details of numerous other entertaining and unbelievable historical events are revealed in this absorbing survey of naval incompetence from Roman times to the Falklands War. Geoffrey Regan certainly sets out to prove that there is truth in the old adage "Worse things happen at sea." Crammed with intriguing and often bizarre anecdotes and more than 50 illuminating illustrations, Great Naval Blunders takes a serious, but often entertaining, look at the misjudgments and oversights of captains, fleet commanders, strategic planners, and ship designers over the ages. Peppered with quotes from those who did their utmost (albeit unwittingly) to hinder naval progress, this entertaining and instructive book will appeal to the naval enthusiast and general reader alike.

Fateful Choices

Fateful Choices
Author: Ian Kershaw
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 596
Release: 2013-04-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 0141915048

In 1940 the world was on a knife-edge. The hurricane of events that marked the opening of the Second World War meant that anything could happen. For the aggressors there was no limit to their ambitions; for their victims a new Dark Age beckoned. Over the next few months their fates would be determined. In Fateful Choices Ian Kershaw re-creates the ten critical decisions taken between May 1940, when Britain chose not to surrender, and December 1941, when Hitler decided to destroy Europe’s Jews, showing how these choices would recast the entire course of history.

History's Greatest Decisions

History's Greatest Decisions
Author: Bill Price
Publisher: Chartwell Books
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2017-01-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0785835210

History’s Greatest Decisions identifies and profiles the many important and difficult decisions leaders have made through history which shaped the world as we know it today. One of the defining features of being human is our capacity for complex problem solving. Most of the time we deal with mundane concerns, like what to have for breakfast or which pair of shoes to wear, but occasionally people face decisions about rather weightier matters. History’s Greatest Decisions is concerned with this second category, those important and difficult decisions which only a very few people get to make and which can impact on the lives of millions of others and have the potential to change the world. From our unknown ancestors who made the first stone tools, to those people in Northern Ireland who managed to put aside their differences in order to create a better future for their children; from the most powerful man in the world deciding not to start a nuclear war, to a woman on a bus standing up for her rights refusing to move seats. History's Greatest Decisions looks at well-known and not-so-well-known examples of people who made the crucial decisions and got them right.

Thinking in Bets

Thinking in Bets
Author: Annie Duke
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2019-05-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0735216371

A Wall Street Journal bestseller, now in paperback. Poker champion turned decision strategist Annie Duke teaches you how to get comfortable with uncertainty and make better decisions. Even the best decision doesn't yield the best outcome every time. There's always an element of luck that you can't control, and there's always information hidden from view. So the key to long-term success (and avoiding worrying yourself to death) is to think in bets: How sure am I? What are the possible ways things could turn out? What decision has the highest odds of success? Did I land in the unlucky 10% on the strategy that works 90% of the time? Or is my success attributable to dumb luck rather than great decision making? Annie Duke, a former World Series of Poker champion turned consultant, draws on examples from business, sports, politics, and (of course) poker to share tools anyone can use to embrace uncertainty and make better decisions. For most people, it's difficult to say "I'm not sure" in a world that values and, even, rewards the appearance of certainty. But professional poker players are comfortable with the fact that great decisions don't always lead to great outcomes, and bad decisions don't always lead to bad outcomes. By shifting your thinking from a need for certainty to a goal of accurately assessing what you know and what you don't, you'll be less vulnerable to reactive emotions, knee-jerk biases, and destructive habits in your decision making. You'll become more confident, calm, compassionate, and successful in the long run.

Seventy-five Greatest Management Decisions Ever Made

Seventy-five Greatest Management Decisions Ever Made
Author: Stuart Crainer
Publisher: Amacom Books
Total Pages: 239
Release: 1999
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780814404911

Publisher Fact Sheet A pithy compendium celebrating pinnacles of decision-making that have shaped management through the ages.

How Leaders Decide

How Leaders Decide
Author: Greg Bustin
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2019-04-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1492667595

"Greg's collection of the best and worst decisions in history is a practical, nuanced and timeless guide for today's decision-makers."—Mark Schortman, Chairman, Coca-Cola Bottlers Sales & Services, LLC Can today's leaders look to history when making tough decisions? Whether you're running a small team or an international enterprise, all leaders know the feeling of facing a tough choice. It's impossible to see into the future to predict how our decisions play out, but we can look to the momentous decisions of the past for insights on how profound choices are made. Each decision made by influential figures, from Alfred Nobel and Marie Curie to Martin Luther King, Jr., and The Beatles, have shaped our world—and now they can help you make the decisions that will determine the direction of your organization. Guiding you through fifty-two dramatic historical events and decisions that changed the course of our world, How Leaders Decide challenges decision-makers with provocative ideas and leadership lessons that will propel your business forward. Greg Bustin's well-researched and inspiring stories of high-stakes turning points in history and the leaders that made the final call will help you make sure your next decision is the one that changes everything. How Leaders Decide is an essential book for readers of Start with Why and Leaders Eat Last! Additional Praise for How Leaders Decide: "Exceptional leaders are lifelong learners, and Greg has collected, organized and presented these leadership lessons to stimulate learning, inform decision-making, and inspire action. This is a book that all teams and business leaders should read."—Elizabeth Bryant, Chief Learning Officer, Southwest Airlines "Talk about the perfect combination! In How Leaders Decide, Greg Bustin combines fascinating history with succinct leadership insights to showcase 52 of the greatest leadership decisions the world has seen"—Gordon Leidner, author of The Leadership Secrets of Hamilton