Anyone who’s ever written a book understands it is rarely an individual endeavor. This book is no exception. The number of people who have contributed to the ideas described herein are too numerous to mention. Despite the difficulty of naming everyone, some individuals deserve special mention for having had a disproportionate influence on my thinking and this project.

At the top of the list is my family, for having tolerated the multiyear endeavor and for having taught me a great deal about life. I want to specifically thank my ever-patient wife Kristen, my always-encouraging daughter Tori, and my constantly cheerful and supportive son Kai.

I also want to thank the leadership team at Kiewit Corporation (specifically Bruce Grewcock, Rick Lanoha, and Scott Schmidt) for always stimulating debates about business, economics, and the power of crossing silos. Senior leaders at United Technologies, LVW Advisors, Timmerman & Sons, and Tenaska were also instrumental in helping me form many of my ideas. And my dear friend, commuting buddy, and co-teacher Paul Solman deserves special mention for his regular engagement and assistance as I thought through the book’s main thesis.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to the educational institutions at which I’ve worked. At Harvard, the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering provided supportive environments in which I could interact with bright students and even brighter colleagues. Special thanks to Richard Zeckhauser, Lawrence Summers, John Haigh, Rakesh Khurana, Fawwaz Habbal, Cherry Murray, Frank Doyle, Ash Carter, and Dana Born. Howard Stevenson deserves special mention for his encouragement to pursue this project and to work with Harvard Business Review Press. At Yale, I want to thank the program in ethics, politics, and economics and the department of political science for giving me a home within a fabulous academic institution. Special thanks to Peter Salovey, Sam Chauncey, David Swensen, and Charley Ellis. The students at both schools have been a real joy to teach, and it is debatable whether they or I learned more.

This book also benefited immensely from the efforts of several research assistants. Nick Levine and Nina Russell dedicated themselves selflessly to the book for months on end, while Tobias Peter, Jared Middelman, Allan Wang, and Lily Jampol-Auerbach all contributed at various times. Lindsay Day’s efforts to keep me organized during the project’s early stages were also noteworthy.

Many of my ideas benefited from feedback received in the course of delivering talks over the past few years. I want to explicitly thank Tony D’Amelio and his team for their support and faith that my unconventional ideas were worth sharing. I also want to thank the team at HBR Press, especially Jeff Kehoe. From our very first meeting, he understood my message and has tirelessly helped to craft it. I cannot thank him enough for his support in nudging the book to its current form.

And lastly, I would be remiss if I did not thank the numerous experts, agents, and advisors to whom I have blindly outsourced my own thinking—they’ve all taught me a great deal about why I need to retain control and not let them take over.