RSA - Obliquity: Why our goals are best achieved indirectly

Obliquity: Why our goals are best achieved indirectly

24th Mar 2010; 18:00

(full recording including audience Q&A)
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RSA Keynote

If you want to go in one direction, the best route may involve going in another.

This is the concept of 'obliquity'. Paradoxical as it sounds, many goals are more likely to be achieved when pursued indirectly. Whether overcoming geographical obstacles, winning decisive battles or meeting sales targets, history shows that oblique approaches are the most successful, especially in difficult terrain.

Pre-eminent economist John Kay visits the RSA to apply his provocative, universal theory of obliquity to everything from international business to town planning and from football to managing forest fires.

He shows why the most profitable companies are not always the most profit-oriented; why the richest men and women are not the most materialistic; and, why the happiest people are not necessarily those who focus on happiness.

Speaker: John Kay, economist and FT columnist

Chair: Andrew Dilnot, economist and broadcaster, Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford.

Suggested hashtag for Twitter users: #rsakay