Framers: Human Advantage in an Age of Technology and Turmoil

The breakout bestselling authors of Big Data now turn to what data can’t accomplish- the power of human ingenuity and ability to frame new questions to get better results than anyone could have previously imagined.

‘Wonderfully stimulating… will teach you to see around corners’ – Tim Harford

Don’t just think deep, think wide.

From pandemics to populism, AI to ISIS, wealth inequity to climate change, humanity faces unprecedented challenges that threaten our very existence. But how we see them affects how we respond and lets us uncover hidden options that expand our thinking.

In this bold, optimistic book, the authors of the bestselling Big Data show how humans have a unique cognitive ability to frame – to create mental models that allow us to spot patterns, make predictions and grasp new situations. While computers may now excel at reasoning and judgement, framing is unique to humans. This book is the first guide to mastering an essential skill for the 21st century.

Blending fascinating stories with cutting-edge research, you’ll discover why it’s useless to try to think outside the box, how Spotify beat Apple by framing music as experience, how the #metoo movement reframed the perception of sexual assault from silence to solidarity, and how framing Covid-19 as seasonal flu led to disaster whereas framing it as SARS delivered New Zealand from the pandemic.

Framers will show you how to make better decisions in the age of algorithms, and will revolutionise not only how we think about our future, but how we think about everything.