"The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Have you ever sat in a corporate five-year planning meeting and wondered if everyone present was wasting their time? Do you watch the news and feel easily swayed by the analysis and predictions of "experts" but don't know how to critically judge their accuracy and value? Does the apparent randomness and risk of everyday life sometimes cause you to react or overreact instead of think clearly?
"The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb bears the subtitle: "The Impact of the Highly Improbable." Although it may be highly improbable that you will try to answer the questions above by picking up what might appear to be an extremely academic and technical tome, it is very likely that if you do, you will find yourself delighted and suprised by how fascinating and accessible this book is! Taleb will challenge traditional thinking on many levels with regard to how we put our trust in experts, financial "wizards," corporate planners and predictors, even trusted news services, but he does so in a painless, almost folksy manner that belies his high level of scholarship and logic. Topics as wide-raning as luck, chance, fairness and personal success are covered.
Readers may find themselves following Taleb's "expert" advice to factor in what is not said or not immediately obvious when assessing everything from world events to their own lives after reading this worthwhile book.

Leslie Malone