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The Uncertainty Mindset

Innovation Insights from the Frontiers of Food
  • Vaughn Tan
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2020
View more publications by Columbia University Press

About this book

Drawing on years of unprecedented access to the best and most influential culinary R&D teams in the world, Vaughn Tan reveals how they exemplify what he calls the uncertainty mindset. A revelatory look at the R&D kitchen, The Uncertainty Mindset upends conventional wisdom about how to organize for innovation and offers practical insights.

Author / Editor information

Vaughn Tan is an assistant professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at University College London’s School of Management. He previously worked for Google in California.

Reviews

Woody Powell, Stanford University:
Chefs are responsible for some of today’s most novel innovations. Vaughn Tan goes behind the scenes to show how R&D is organized inside the world’s most famous kitchens, uncovering surprising lessons that have wide application. This is a provocative contribution to studies of culture and R&D.

Jerry Neumann, founder of Neu Venture Capital:
This is one of the best books to appear in the last several decades about how to design organizations for continual innovation in high-pressure environments. It offers explanations for why some companies work and others don’t, and made me embrace a new, more subtle way of thinking about hiring, managing, and trusting innovators in leading-edge technology companies.

Amy C. Edmondson, author of The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth:
The Uncertainty Mindset takes a close look at the secret inner workings of some of the most innovative food R&D teams worldwide. It shows organizations in other industries how to redesign themselves to become more resilient, innovative, and adaptable—by simply changing how they think about the future.

Howard S. Becker, author of Art Worlds:
Vaughn Tan spent long periods observing some of the world’s most famous chefs at work in their prize-winning restaurants and tells his readers what they do and how they do it. A real contribution to our understanding of how experts combine artistic creation and business success.

Nathan Myhrvold, coauthor of Modernist Bread, Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking and Modernist Cuisine at Home, author of The Photography of Modernist Cuisine:
Whether you’re new to the culinary world or have dined in some of the world’s top restaurants, you’d be hard pressed not to find The Uncertainty Mindset fascinating. Vaughn Tan has written an intriguing, well-researched account of how some of the world’s top chefs and their teams approach culinary innovation—this book is full of valuable insights for forward-thinking, innovation-minded organizations and teams in any sector.


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PART I. A Partial History of New Ideas in Food

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PART II. What Is Innovation in Food?

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PART III. Innovation Is Uncertainty

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PART IV. Building the Ever-Changing Team

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PART V. Creating the New Familiar

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PART VI. Staying in the Discomfort Zone

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PART VII. Insights from the Frontiers of Food

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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
August 24, 2020
eBook ISBN:
9780231551878
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Downloaded on 24.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.7312/tan-19688/html
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