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  • Rebel Ideas

  • The Power of Diverse Thinking
  • By: Matthew Syed
  • Narrated by: Matthew Syed
  • Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,840 ratings)

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Rebel Ideas cover art

Rebel Ideas

By: Matthew Syed
Narrated by: Matthew Syed
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Summary

An inspiring audiobook about creative problem-solving from the number one best-selling author of Bounce, Black Box Thinking and You Are Awesome.

Where do the best ideas come from?

And how do we apply these ideas to the problems we face - at work, in the education of our children, and in the biggest shared challenges of our age: rising obesity, terrorism and climate change?

In this bold and inspiring new audiobook, Matthew Syed argues that individual intelligence is no longer enough; that the only way to tackle these complex problems is to harness the power of our 'cognitive diversity'.

Rebel Ideas is a fascinating journey through the science of team performance. It draws on psychology, economics, anthropology and genetics, and takes lessons from a dazzling range of case-studies, including the catastrophic intelligence failings of the CIA before 9/11, a communication breakdown at the top of Mount Everest, and a moving tale of deradicalisation in America's deep South. Plus: insights from the studio of the most successful songwriter you've never heard of, the secrets of the most creative and progressive schools in the world, and how the marriage decrees of the Catholic Church inadvertently inspired the Industrial Revolution.

It is a book that will strengthen any company, institution or team, but it also offers many individual applications too: the remarkable benefits of personalised nutrition, advice on how to break free of the echo chambers that surround us, and tips on how we can all develop an 'outsider mindset'.

Rebel Ideas offers a radical blueprint for creative problem-solving. It challenges hierarchies, encourages constructive dissent and forces us to think again about where the best ideas come from.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our desktop site.

©2019 Matthew Syed Consulting Limited (P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

What listeners love about Rebel Ideas

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    4 out of 5 stars

Malcolm gladwell for the uk

This is a good book full of interesting insights, although the premise is fairly straightforward, can be articulated quite quickly. Rather like Syed's earlier book Bounce, the running time is somewhat padded out by familiar examples that have appeared in similar literature from the likes of Daniel Kahneman, Dan Ariely, Malcolm Gladwell. At any rate, a number of the anecdotes were quite familiar to me. Some of Syed's conclusions feel a bit optimistic/simplistic - there is the sense of a TED talk about them. That said, a plea for individualization, specialisation and rebellion against standardisation is always welcome, and this contains plenty of fascinating insights.

10 people found this helpful

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I want my directors to read this book

I started out being a bit wary of this book; mainly because I wasn't enamoured with the narrator's voice. (something about the pronunciation of "diversiddy" really irritated me).
Once I'd managed to get past that, and concentrate on the actual message, I was very impressed. I think I probably consume about ten of these pop science / cultural thinking books in an average year, and this one has gone straight into the small handful of titles that I think everyone 'should' read.
I work in a mostly white male industry, and for a while we've been taking about attracting a more diverse management and workforce. It seems fairly obvious to me now that we should also be looking for managers from completely different industries.
A lucid and thought provoking book that had me taking down notes for ideas to apply in the real world. Well worth the time.

9 people found this helpful

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Essential read

This book has the ability to not only entertain but enlighten. The breaking down of evens and the full respect he give to the topics he discusses are exceptional. I will be getting both of my children to read it as I believe the information within will help shape better understanding for them.

Can’t recommend this enough.

9 people found this helpful

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An excellent and engaging listen

Matthew does labour his points, but they are worth hearing and more importantly, worth noting.

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Excellent

Best book I’ve read this year, great in audible version. Even bought a hard copy for future referencing.

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Well Worth the credit

Well narrated and organised giving a fascinating insight into decision making. I
The different scenarios and they’re explanations were well thought out and insightful. If only managers/owners of smaller medium enterprises and businesses could adopt these strategies the UK would be in a much better position. Our indifference to diversity leave us far behind the rest of the world in entrepreneurship and innovation.

A solid audio book that is easy to listen to and comprehend. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 Overall was that it didn’t give an examples from diversity forms non western civilisation perspective which would have made this book truly diverse?

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Another excellent book by Matthew Syed

Syed always manages to condense complex ideas, empirical data, and meaningful conclusions into a narrative flow. This book is no exception.

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without research and unproven

Awash with empty academic theorizing, I am amazed he got away with this. if his idea the diverse groups work better then how come mono cultural ethnic groups like the Japanese, Koreans, and Japanese produce the most innovative technology. When it comes to arranging a community fair or carnival then maybe it is better to have a mix of races on the team.

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another great read

loved it....another brilliant book by MS! Very applicable to the daily struggles of lack of creative thinking and diversity....

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Excellent

I love all the books that I have read from this author. Would highly recommend that you read them all. learnt loads from this book

1 person found this helpful

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  • Ekele Onuh Oscar
  • 31-12-19

Not his best work

in defence for diversity, this is a book to read however, I was hoping to see how diversity created rebel ideas like Ellon Musk's Tesla. what was the story of diversity inherent in it.


the CIA angle would have done it , but he gave only one example and it was at the end.


he also didn't talk about neither did he dissociate his ideas from extreme radical far left groups. the elephant in the room question, "how do you sustain stellar performance and achieve bottom line without hiring the best but focusing on diversity",wasn't explained.


how to help companies recruit diverse groups yet intelligent people wasn't dealt with.


overall, this book is a compendium of rearticulation of issues wrong with non-diversity

1 person found this helpful

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  • Matt
  • 25-08-23

The best guide to success

This book should be mandatory reading for everyone
It exposes the true underlying causes for our failures as a species
We are all individuals
Averages just don’t work

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  • Matthew
  • 11-02-23

Brilliant, compact & compelling

In a world of voluminous and derivative content laced with increasing rancor and divisiveness, it is rare to come across such a compact narrative with such compelling and constructive ideas.

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  • Folake
  • 10-10-22

Diversity has economic impact

I have always thought diversity as a buzz word but this opened my eyes to more. The book revealed there is so much to gain in diversity.

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