The Formula cover art

The Formula

The Universal Laws of Success

 Preview

Audible Standard 1-month free trial

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo + applicable tax after 30-day trial. Cancel Anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

The Formula

Written by: Albert-László Barabási
Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson
Try for $0.00

$8.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $31.52

Buy Now for $31.52

In the bestselling tradition of Malcom Gladwell, James Gleick, and Nate Silver, prominent professor László Barabási gives us a trailblazing book that promises to transform the very foundations of how our success-obsessed society approaches their professional careers, life pursuits and long-term goals.

Too often, accomplishment does not equal success. We did the work but didn't get the promotion; we played hard but weren't recognized; we had the idea but didn't get the credit. We convince ourselves that talent combined with a strong work ethic is the key to getting ahead, but also realize that combination often fails to yield results, without any deeper understanding as to why. Recognizing this striking disconnect, the author, along with a team of renowned researchers and some of the most advanced data-crunching systems on the planet, dedicated themselves to one goal: uncovering that ever-elusive link between performance and success.

Now, based on years of academic research, The Formula finally unveils the groundbreaking discoveries of their pioneering study, not only highlighting the scientific and mathematic principles that underpin success, but also revolutionizing our understanding of:

Why performance is necessary but not adequate Why "Experts" are often wrong How to assemble a creative team primed for success How to most effectively engage our networks

"This is not just an important but an imperative project: to approach the problem of randomness and success using the state of the art scientific arsenal we have. Barabasi is the person."-Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the New York Times bestselling The Black Swan and Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at NYU Entrepreneurship Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Small Business & Entrepreneurship Success Inspiring Thought-Provoking Career Universal Laws
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

What the critics say

Praise for The Formula

"This is not just an important but an imperative project: to approach the problem of randomness and success using the state of the art scientific arsenal we have. Barabasi is the person."—Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the New York Times bestselling The Black Swan and Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at NYU
"Laszlo Barabasi is an extraordinary scientist who has enjoyed great success. He brings to bear all of his capacity as the former to understand the latter--to our great benefit. Writing in a lively fashion, he illuminates broad principles that explain how people in all fields--from entrepreneurs to scientists to athletes to artists--achieve success. The insights are novel and useful, and backed not just by vivid stories, but also by the sorts of detailed and inventive scientific analyses, plainly explained, for which Barabasi is rightly famous."—Nicholas Christakis, co-author of Connected and the Sol Goldman Family Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University
"In his new book, Laszlo Barabasi delights us with the stories and mechanisms that explain success in our achievement obsessed society."—Cesar A. Hidalgo, author of Why Information Grows and Director of the Macro Connections group at the MIT Media Lab
"Barabasi will indelibly transform the way we all think about success."—Alex Pentland, author of Social Physics and Toshiba Professor at MIT
"It's rare that a book about success turns out to be such a page-turner, but there you go. File [The Formula] away with Freakonomics or Outliers."—Geekwire
"A fascinating new book."—Bloomberg Businessweek
"If you are currently at the top of your field, but you want to knock everyone else off the mountain, Barabasi will tell you how. And if you're not quite there yet, these laws might give you something to think about on the way up."—Lifehacker
"A fun, fast, first-hand account of efforts to use big data to pull back the curtain on our collective dynamics.The Formula offers a rich tour of research on how relatively simple feedback forces channel our lives in surprising and counter-intuitive ways."—Nature
"The Formula is an important book for us all to read. It weaves together meticulously researched historical context with more than a decade of Barabási's and other scholars' "eureka moments" and research findings to extract scientific principles and actionable insights for achieving success."—Science
All stars
Most Relevant
actionable advice. easy to listen to with interesting stories. scientific approach. one of the few I actually finished listening to to the end.

excellent book!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you are looking for the formula of success, this is it!! Work hard, network harder! Appreciate people and they most likely will appreciate you.

Outstanding!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
After the 4th chapter it gets tedious and repetitive. For me, the 4 first chapters plus the last 10 minutes of the last chapter would be enough.

Great content but…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Networking can be very useful.
Get good at whatever you do.
Be in the right place at the right time.
Build a diverse thinking team but dont be too bossy.

He likes Nora Jones and Miles Davis with passion.

There you read the book.

Didnt not find much use for this information

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.