Tim Harford is a talented multi-media econ journalist on the other side of the pond, where he writes a column for the Financial Times and hosts the BBC4 program More or Less, where he works to make sense of the stats and numbers politicos and pundits use to confuse.  His latest book explores the historical relationship between failures and innovation.  It is titled Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure, and while we may take exception to the use of "always" in the subtitle of the book, Harford's general analysis is timely and instructive. 

Harford had Tea with the Economist, and discussed problem solving, the need for flexible leadership in trying times, the value of whistleblowers, and building successful strategies after initial failure: