The Science of Success: What's luck got to do with it?

press release:

C4 presents the John von Neumann Public Lectures in Complexity & Computation  

The May 2015 speaker is Michael Mauboussin, Credit Suisse & Columbia University Business School  

The Science of Success: What's luck got to do with it?  

Public Lecture Abstract

We all know that both skill and luck are important in shaping outcomes in life. But how, exactly, should we think about the relative roles of each? In this lecture, Michael will define skill and luck, offer some quick and useful lessons, examine the shapes of skill and luck, and will finish with how we can work to improve skill and manage luck.  The points will be made clear and concrete using vivid examples from sports, entertainment, and business. Fun and illuminating, this talk will change how you think about skill and luck.

Michael Mauboussin is Head of Global Financial Strategies at Credit Suisse in New York. He is also an adjunct professor of finance at Columbia Business School and the author of three books, most recently The Success Equation: Understanding Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing.  He is also the chairman of the board of trustees at the Santa Fe Institute, dedicated to transdisciplinary research in complex systems.