Chris Clearfield ‘01 won the Bracken Bower Prize for his forthcoming book, Rethinking the Unthinkable: Managing the Risk of Catastrophic Failure in the Twenty-First Century, written with coauthor András Tilcsik. 

The annual Bracken Bower Prize is awarded by the Financial TImes and McKinsey & Co. for the best proposal for a business book by an author under 35. Rethinking the Unthinkable examines how ill prepared most people are to face the catastrophic risks posed by complex systems. Clearfield works as a principal with System Logic, a consultancy focused on risk and decision making. Tilcsik is an assistant professor of strategic management at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

The prize is named after Brendan Bracken, chairman of the Financial Times from 1945 to 1958, and Marvin Bower, managing director of McKinsey from 1950 to 1967.

Read an excerpt from the book.