The Fifth Risk
by Michael Lewis
What the US federal government actually does, told through the Departments of Energy, Agriculture and Commerce and the people who run their least glamorous programmes, and what happens when a transition team does not show up to learn. A book about institutional knowledge and the cost of ignoring it.
Read it if…
you want to understand why boring competence matters.
See the book →
Skip it if…
you want politics; it is about management.
Try instead: Six Thinking Hats →
Three things you will actually use
- The fifth risk is project management.
- Institutional knowledge is invisible until lost.
- Boring work prevents disasters you never hear about.
Do this first
Read the Department of Energy chapter.
Our verdict
Boring competence, defended.
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