Prisoners of Their Premises

A timely look at the real costs of leaders not examining their assumptions.   Why do accomplished and stable leaders frequently make calamitous decisions with devastating consequences for their countries—and other nations? We debate debacles such as the American involvement in Vietnam, seeking to understand why leaders pursued disastrous policies. In Prisoners of Their Premises , George C. Edwards III argues that the failure of leaders to examine their premises—the assumptions they mak