Obliquity: Why our goals are best achieved indirectly
John Kay
Nov 2026 · Profile Audio · Narrated by Peter Wicks
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Audiobook
6 hr 4 min
Unabridged
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Eligible
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infoThis book will become available on November 19, 2026. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this audiobook
'Persuasive, rigorous, creative and wise. Brilliant' TIM HARFORD
'Kay is both a first-class economist and an excellent writer' FINANCIAL TIME
It may feel paradoxical, but in business and in life, our goals are often best achieved when approaching them indirectly. In a traffic jam, the quickest route to your destination might involve going the long way round. Those who deliberately seek love rarely find it; the endless pursuit of happiness leads to misery. For a corporation, focus on cutting-edge engineering, new technology or a unique product is what generates profit; making profit the sole purpose of a business usually leads to its collapse.
From the celebrated economist John Kay, Obliquity is a manifesto for aiming slightly off-target. In this provocative thesis, Kay deals with everything from football to forest fires to show how problems are best solved when thought of obliquely, and shows us how to achieve our objectives through a gradual process of risk-taking and discovery.
'Kay is both a first-class economist and an excellent writer' FINANCIAL TIME
It may feel paradoxical, but in business and in life, our goals are often best achieved when approaching them indirectly. In a traffic jam, the quickest route to your destination might involve going the long way round. Those who deliberately seek love rarely find it; the endless pursuit of happiness leads to misery. For a corporation, focus on cutting-edge engineering, new technology or a unique product is what generates profit; making profit the sole purpose of a business usually leads to its collapse.
From the celebrated economist John Kay, Obliquity is a manifesto for aiming slightly off-target. In this provocative thesis, Kay deals with everything from football to forest fires to show how problems are best solved when thought of obliquely, and shows us how to achieve our objectives through a gradual process of risk-taking and discovery.
'Persuasive, rigorous, creative and wise. Brilliant' TIM HARFORD
'Kay is both a first-class economist and an excellent writer' FINANCIAL TIME
It may feel paradoxical, but in business and in life, our goals are often best achieved when approaching them indirectly. In a traffic jam, the quickest ...
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About the author
Sir John Kay is one of Britain's leading economists. Previous titles include the Saltire Prize-winning and Orwell Prize-shortlisted Other People's Money, The Long and Short of It, Greed is Dead, Radical Uncertainty and the FT Business Book Award shortlisted The Corporation in the Twenty-First Century. He lives in Oxford.
Sir John Kay is one of Britain's leading economists. Previous titles include the Saltire Prize-winning and Orwell Prize-shortlisted Other People's Money, The Long and Short of It, Greed is Dead, Radical Uncertainty and the FT Business Book Award shortlisted The Corporation in the Twenty-First Cen...
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