感谢

It’s funny, I think writing books is a bit like having children; as soon as you have the first copy in your hands, you forget the immensely tough marathon in getting there. It takes a village to produce a book and I am deeply grateful for the advice, encouragement and support given by friends, family and colleagues along the way.

As for the book itself, I have three talented individuals to thank in particular: Mia de Villa, Phoebe Adler-Ryan and Fenella Souter.

Mia played an invaluable role as a research assistant, tracking down obscure papers and checking and rechecking hundreds of facts and transcripts. She was willing to do whatever it took to produce this book. Thank you, for everything.

A special thank you to Fenella who was instrumental in helping to make the stories in this book zing. She was an incisive critic throughout the process and her keen-eyed comments helped to make every page infinitely better.

I am immensely grateful to Phoebe, my assistant, for handling so much so well, and with diligent professionalism, care and grace. Thank you for being a joy to work with and an invaluable member of the team.

Thank you to Gary Nunn for hitting the ground running in managing communications and helping to spread the ideas in the book.

My heartfelt thanks to my brilliant literary agent, Toby Mundy, for continually playing the roles of thoughtful advisor, supportive coach and chief cheerleader. I am indebted to his fierce faith in the project (even in its unwieldy embryonic state) and for making this book happen. And thanks to David Roach for introducing me to Toby.

I’d like to extend a special thanks to my terrific editors at Penguin Portfolio, Fred Baty and Daniel Crewe, who pushed the manuscript along in the most encouraging way possible. And the talented and world-class team behind the scenes: Nicola Evans, Lydia Yadi, Ellie Smith and John Stables. For her careful copyedit, thank you to Karen Whitlock. I was very fortunate to have David Over leading the marketing efforts around this book. Thank you for passionately embracing the ideas from the outset (and for countenancing my nudging!). Thanks also to Alex Elam and Sarah Scarlett and the rest of the dedicated international rights team at Penguin Portfolio.

I am also grateful to the first-rate team at Hachette, Public Affairs–led by Clive Priddle, Lindsay Fradkoff, and Jaime Leifer–who enthusiastically brought this book to readers in the United States.

My gratitude goes to the talented designers at Team Design: Amy Globus, John Clark and Devin Seger for the stunning internal illustrations. I am constantly amazed how you turn my chicken scratches into something beautiful. Making complex things simple is complex and you do it so well.

Thanks also to Caroline Baum, an inspirational friend and talented writer, who read through an early draft of the manuscript (it’s because I trust you!).

A special thank you to Danny Stern, for doing everything a good speaking agent should do–only infinitely better. I am also grateful to the rest of the team at Stern Strategy Group for their committed enthusiasm for my ideas: Katie Balogh, Tara Baumgarten, Mel Blake, Stephanie Heckman, Whitney Jennings, Joseph Navatto, Susan Stern and Ania Trzepizur. And a big thank you to Nanette Moulton, Trish Stafford and Carol Pedersen and the rest of the team at Saxtons for supporting my engagements from the very first time I stepped on a stage.

Enormous thanks to all the talented people who graciously shared their time and wisdom with me, including: Judd Antin, Jessi Baker, Andrea Barrett, Savi Baveja, Joshua Browder, Leah Busque, Verena Butt d’Espous, Pierrick Caen, Juan Cartagena, Emily Castor, Stephen Cave, Coye Cheshire, Sean Conway, Ines Cormier, Rogier Creemers, Courtney Cregan, Nilesh Dalvi, Damien Detcherry, Matt Faustman, Juliette Garside, Joe Gebbia, Logan Green, Alok Gupta, Elliot Hedman, José Ignacio Fernández, Angeli Jain, Husayn Kassai, Leanne Kemp, Federico Lalatta, David Lang, Brian Lathrop, James Martin, Frédéric Mazzella, Mark Stephen Meadows, Paolo Parigi, Lynn Perkins, Gerard Ryle, Anish Das Sarma, Ariel Schultz, Shivani Siroya, Ryann Wahl and Seth Weiner. (And to all the story contributors who asked to be kept anonymous.) I am immensely grateful for their trust in letting me share their experiences and stories.

James Coleman, Francis Fukuyama, Onora O’Neill and Robert Putnam, with their remarkable writings on trust, have been a touchstone of intellectual inspiration.

The faculty at Oxford University Saïd Business School have provided me with the opportunity to teach the unbelievable student community. A special thank you to Colin Mayer, Ian Rogan, Rupert Younger and Marc Ventresca for all their support. I also want to thank my students for their engagement, comments and for pushing me to find clearer answers. Pamela Hartigan, my former supervisor, to whom this book is dedicated, showed me, in innumerable ways, what it means to be a teacher. I benefited enormously from her wisdom and was inspired by her relentless faith in people.

Thanks to the colleagues and organizations who have frequently provided public platforms to test and improve ideas: Helen Goulden and the team at Nesta; Mairi Ryan and Matthew Taylor of the RSA; and Alain de Botton and the team at School of Life; Jo Gray, Theo Chapman and the editors at the AFR; and David Rowan and Greg Williams at WIRED. A big thank you to Chris Anderson, Remo Giuffre, Bruno Giussani and Helen Walters at TED for letting me share my ideas from the ominous ‘red circle’.

I am also thankful to Rohan Lund, Kyle Loades and the other members of the board at the NRMA for tolerating my schedule and absences. I am proud to be a part of such a trusted organization.

I am grateful to Kirsty de Garis for her research and input in the early stages of this book. Thank you for always being there. Many other friends and family, including Dana Ardi, Craig Baker, Tony Botsman and Jonathan Simmons, who have listened (or I should say, at times, endured) obsessive conversations about ideas lingering in my mind.

A special thank you to Isabel ‘one’ and Isabel ‘deux’ for all their love and help with my kids. To all the teachers at Emanuel School, thanks for creating a wonderful and caring place.

My dear parents, Ruth and David, trusted me to share many personal family stories in this book. (I forgive you for leaving me in the care of a drug dealer!) An enormous thank you for all your boundless love, generosity and wisdom over the years. You are both remarkable people.

To my mother-in-law Wendy: my heartfelt thanks for all your love and support. You are the best nonna to the kids.

And of course, my two beautiful children, Jack and Grace, for being an infinite source of joy, pride and humility. Although they are both still young, they have taught me so much about trust and how it’s a family’s most precious asset.

Finally, my heartfelt thanks go to the person who knows me best, my husband, Chris. I am sure there were many times he did not want to talk about bots, blockchain and Breitbart, but he always listened. His endless patience, love and support made this book possible.

Rachel Botsman, June 2017