Ergodicity
What is ergodicity and why does it matter? Learn how irreversible outcomes affect long-term performance in investing, business, and life decisions.
3rd edition (November 2022)
or
Some reviews
"One of the most important books I've read, period. It's short, articulate, and expansive on a singular subject matter — ergodicity, which is really the key ingredient to success in life, marriage, business, family, happiness, health, etc."
Blake Janover
CEO, Janover Inc.
"One of the most important books for everyone to read. Ergodicity should be taught in school and it should be a common metric in businesses that leaders pay attention to and are deliberate about."
Matt Cannon
"A fascinating book […] Once I started, I couldn't put it down […] the math is minimal, and Luca treats the subject well. I wish I had read it two years earlier"
Robert Matthews
VP of Engineering, Equifax
"One of the very best books I read about risk management. A must read."
Alessandro Francescotto
Partner, Excellence Consulting
"Profoundly insightful [...] If you are someone who often needs to make decisions under uncertainty and using incomplete information (which I think applies to most of us), then Ergodicity is a must-read."
Dev Ashish
StableInvestor Founder
"Brilliant. Must read."
N. S. Ramnath
Journalist & Author
"A brilliant, concise, thought-provoking gem. A must-read for investors."
Rakesh
Investor
"A great book for those who quickly want to familiarize themselves with the concept of ergodicity. The author goes to great lengths explaining the concept in easily understandable terms. Highly recommended!"
Auke Hunneman
BI Norwegian Business School
"It helped clarify several longstanding pragmatic questions I had about uncertainty and risk [...] a lucid explanation, accessible for a general audience."
Pankaj Saikia
Datafarer co-founder.
"Excellent book. Highly recommended. Luca compresses a lot of wisdom and actionable guidance into few words. No fluff, no fillers, only thought through foundational ideas."
Eleanor Berger
AI consultant
About the book
In this short book, 6-times author Luca Dellanna describes ergodicity as simply as possible.
You will read stories about how not knowing about it destroyed his cousin’s career as a skier, or how misunderstanding it caused additional deaths during the pandemic. You will learn how to spot situations where ergodicity matters and the three strategies to react appropriately.
What's inside
- What is ergodicity
and why it is so important in business, investing, sports,relationships, and life in general.
- The story of my cousin
and how a misunderstanding of ergodicity impacted his career as a professional skier.
- The gambler and the gamble,
a paradox that explains many professional mistakes.
- The best strategy depends on the time horizon:
the importance of not getting distracted by those with a different time horizon than yours.
- A definition of ergodicity
and a test to determine whether a situation is ergodic (and how much it is ergodic).
- Three strategies
to manage non-ergodicity.
- How to best optimize your life
under non-ergodic conditions (i.e., in the real world).
- Luck, skill,
and how to determine the importance of each in a given context.
- And much more…
About the author
Luca Dellanna is the author of more than ten books. He is a researcher in adaptive systems and a management advisor.
Luca has also been teaching risk management and related topics for over ten years at the University of Genoa (as an external lecturer), and frequently gives guest lectures at many public and private institutions.
He has been a speaker at some of the most prestigious conferences and podcasts, such as Nudgestock (the largest behavioral sciences conference) and Econtalk (twice). He has been featured on The Spectator and other famous newspapers.
Luca lives in Turin, Italy, though he also frequently spends time in Singapore.
Part of Luca's portfolio / trusted by leaders at…
Luca is fluent in EN, IT, FR, ES, and has experience in the following industries: agricultural, automotive, banking, chemical, consulting, consumer services, electronics, fast-moving consumer goods, finance, fintech, food, hospitality, logistics, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, professional services, retail, semiconductors, software, and tech.
Want to go deeper?
If you enjoyed "Ergodicity", I can help you apply these ideas to your specific situation.
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Niraj Dugar
Co-Founder, Holistic Wealth
"One of the most important books I've read, period. It's short, articulate, and expansive on a singular subject matter — ergodicity, which is really the key ingredient to success in life, marriage, business, family, happiness, health, etc."
Blake Janover
CEO, Janover Inc.
"One of the smartest and most thoughtful individuals I've come across [...] His insights always stand out."
Kruno Kutnohorski
Head of Value Chain, Eplan
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Part of Luca's portfolio / trusted by leaders at…
Luca is fluent in EN, IT, FR, ES, and has experience in the following industries: agricultural, automotive, banking, chemical, consulting, consumer services, electronics, fast-moving consumer goods, finance, fintech, food, hospitality, logistics, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, professional services, retail, semiconductors, software, and tech.
Read an excerpt
Ergodicity
Featured on EconTalk and 15+ other podcasts
Thousands of copies sold all over the world
Also available as an audiobook!