Essence of decision
by Graham T. Allison · first published 1971
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Analyzes the Cuban Missile Crisis through three models of organizational decision-making, showing how the same facts read differently under each lens. Suited to readers studying political and bureaucratic choices.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
One of the most influental political science works written in the post World War II era, the original edition of Essence of Decision is a unique and fascinating examination of the pivotal event of the cold Cold War. Not simply revised, but completely re-written, the Second Edition of this classic text is a fresh reinterpretation of the theories and events surrounding the Cuban Missle Crisis, incorporating all new information from the Kennedy tapes and recently declassified Soviet files. Essence of Decision Second Edition, is a vivid look at decision-making under pressure and is the only single
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"The Essence of Decision" - Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow The easy way to think decisions is with the rational actor model. "The United States didn't sign the TPP agreement because..." "Apple removed the headphone jack because..."…
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗If you're interested in this sort of thing, check out the book Essence of Decision, by Graham T. Allison. It analyzes the Cuban missile crisis under three different models for understanding how organizations make decisions, and talks about how one might make sense of the facts in light…
on “Declassified documents show why the US and the USSR came close to war in 1973” ↗Essence of Decision by Graham T. Allison In a nutshell: The mental models we typically use to think about and understand the behavior of organizations such as corporations and governments are deeply wrong.
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗I think that some of the lessons from the book Essence of Decision might be relevant. A challenge I've seen in management-heavy organizations is that the many layers of management largely function to make good management impossible. The many layers of command between…
on “Excess Management Is Costing the U.S. $3T Per Year (2016)” ↗Essence of Decision is a great book that explores this idea. It looks at different models for understanding how organizations make decisions, and arrives at broadly the same conclusion: a model that assumes people are particularly…
on “Intelligence Is Not the Main Bottleneck” ↗Great article, and the best is Musk's response. Just one more example of how, ala Allison and Zeilkow's "Essence of Decision," so much of what happens in industrial organizations ("industrial" in the philosophical sense -- meaning organizations with hierarchies, divisions, etc.) is motivated not by the overall interest of the…
on “Man hacks Tesla firmware, finds new model, has car remotely downgraded” ↗A few: "The Once and Future King", T.H. White -- best novelization of the problem of power "Don Quixote", Miguel de Cervantes -- why stories matter "Essence of Decision", Graham Allison -- how views of a historic episode vary with the theory you apply "Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings", Basler/Sandburg -- The application of reason to the problems of law, morality…
on “Ask HN: Life Changing Books?” ↗I doubt that's what parent was getting at. Probably something more along the lines of the central thesis of the book Essence of Decision by Graham T. Allison. The gist of the book is that organizational behavior never makes sense if you anthropomorphize it as if it were a single entity with its own goals and motivations. Nor does it make…
on “Music labels will regret coming for the Internet Archive, sound historian says” ↗