John Brooks
8 key ideas, each explained in our own words.
Business Adventures
- IDEA 1
Business is full of human drama
Brooks, a writer for The New Yorker, collected twelve long stories about American business in the 1950s and 1960s. Rather than giving rules, he shows how ambition, mistakes, pride and luck shape what happens inside companies and markets.
- IDEA 2
The Edsel was a costly flop
Brooks describes how Ford spent enormous sums researching and launching the Edsel car, which buyers rejected. Careful research could not guarantee success. In Brooks's account, the story shows that a big company with plenty of money can still misjudge what customers want.
- IDEA 3
Xerox built a new industry
Brooks describes how Xerox developed the photocopier, transforming offices. Persistence turned a risky invention into a huge business. In Brooks's account, the early years were uncertain, but the company kept working on the idea until it became useful to offices everywhere.
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