Book · 2013 · Business & Economics
The Smartest Guys in the Room
The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
- mentions
- 19
- people
- 10
- podcasts
- 7
- episodes
- 9
- critical mentions
- 0
Let me just read this passage from The Smartest Guys in the Room because I think this probably articulates the insidiousness of the Enron culture better than anything else.
What they say about it
- Reading passages from it“read this passage from the smartest guys in the room”5
- Seminal book on Enron“the seminal book on Enron”4
- Compared with Conspiracy of Fools“conspiracy of fools and smartest guys in the room”2
The best things said about it
Yes, she wrote a very prescient 2001 piece on Enron. She was then co-author of the book The Smartest Guys in the Room. Yes. It's like the seminal book on Enron.
If you ever watch the documentary or read the book The Smartest Guys in the Room, that's what it reminded me of.
So if you read Enron books, you can basically read books like Smartest Guys in the Room as every ex Enron employee trying to explain why it was some other part of Enron's fault that Enron collapsed.
And this is why there's a book called The Smartest Guys in the Room because apparently everyone was like oh they'll be fine they're the smartest guys in the room.
Going back to The Smartest Guys in the Room the title obviously suggests something about the I guess in general the ability and the likelihood of very smart people committing fraud.
Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
1
11
3
1
3
How it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
10 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
The Smartest Guys in the Room by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind is an investigative book detailing the rise and corporate collapse of Enron. On Breaking Points, Ryan Grim referenced Bethany McLean's reporting and co-authored book while questioning whether modern data centers might resemble historical financial engineering disasters like Enron. Emily Jashinsky also referenced the book and its documentary adaptation on Breaking Points to compare defensive reactions by tech executives to corporate overconfidence. Josh Clark discussed McLean's work on Stuff You Should Know, while Joe Rogan mentioned the documentary on The Joe Rogan Experience during a conversation about corporate corruption. Byrne Hobart noted on How I Write that books like Smartest Guys in the Room capture former employees attempting to shift blame after a firm fails. Shaan Puri referenced the title on My First Million to illustrate corporate overconfidence, and Dwarkesh Patel connected the themes of intelligence and fraud in Hive Mind to McLean's book on the Dwarkesh Podcast.
Every mention
David Rosenthal so you read the smartest guys in the room right by Bethany McLean 7
Discussed
“so you read the smartest guys in the room right by Bethany McLean”
Discussed
“this is now quoting from Bethany's book among its 20 000 miles of pipeline was a genuine prize”
Discussed
“so let me just read this passage from the smartest guys in the room because I think this probably articulates the insidiousness of the Enron culture better than anything else”
Discussed
“in conspiracy of Fools and it sounds like it was the same in smartest guys in the room”
Discussed
“I think there's another thing that's in the smartest guys in the room where they reference the fact that I don't think for his particular sales”
Discussed
“I don't know if this is in smartest guys in the room there's quotes from Enron people talking about Dyna G”
Discussed
“both conspiracy of Fools and smartest guys in the room came out before the trials even started”
Dwarkesh Patel um which I guess raises the question of what are we doing when we're documenting and trying to learn from b… 3
Discussed
“I'm really curious to ask you this, because in Hive Mind you're talking about the fact that higher IQ people on average are more cooperative in prisoner's dilemma type situations and I just interviewed Bethany McClean on the podcast. She wrote the Smartest Guys in the Room which is about Enron.”
Discussed
“um which I guess raises the question of what are we doing when we're documenting and trying to learn from books like yours if somebody who is about to commit the same exact kind of thing can read that book”
Discussed
“um going back to the smartest guys in the room the title obviously suggests something about the I guess in general the ability and the likelihood of very smart people committing fraud”
Ryan Grim Oh, she wrote the Enron book, right? Oh, the Enron book. I'm sorry, that's what it was, Enron, and is askin… 2
Discussed
“Oh, she wrote the Enron book, right? Oh, the Enron book. I'm sorry, that's what it was, Enron, and is asking are data centers the next big short or are they the next Enron?”
Discussed
“yes, she wrote a very prescient 2001 piece on Enron. She was then co-author of the book The Smartest Guys in the Room. Yes. It's like the seminal book on Enron.”
Ben Gilbert and this is in the smartest guys in the room a lay my body across the tracks issue without joining the company 1
Discussed
“and this is in the smartest guys in the room a lay my body across the tracks issue without joining the company”
Bethany McLean I mean I could not have written my Enron book if it were for the justice department investigating in their… 1
Discussed
“I mean I could not have written my Enron book if it were for the justice department investigating in their indictments for the role of Congress in getting all these documents from from all these internal documents”
Byrne Hobart So if you read Enron books, you can basically read books like Smartest Guys in the Room as every ex Enron e… 1
Discussed
“So if you read Enron books, you can basically read books like Smartest Guys in the Room as every ex Enron employee trying to explain why it was some other part of Enron's fault that Enron collapsed.”
Emily Jashinsky If you ever watch the documentary or read the book The Smartest Guys in the Room, that's what it reminded m… 1
Discussed
“If you ever watch the documentary or read the book The Smartest Guys in the Room, that's what it reminded me of.”
Joe Rogan that was a great that enron documentary the smartest guys in the room great doctor it's a great documentary… 1
Discussed
“that was a great that enron documentary the smartest guys in the room great doctor it's a great documentary about that whole thing”
Josh Clark One of the first people was Bethany McLean, the journalist who ended up writing The Smartest Guys in the Room. 1
Discussed
“One of the first people was Bethany McLean, the journalist who ended up writing The Smartest Guys in the Room.”
Shaan Puri and this is why there's a book called the smartest guys in the room because apparently everyone was like oh… 1
Discussed
“and this is why there's a book called the smartest guys in the room because apparently everyone was like oh they'll be fine they're the smartest guys in the room”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“And I finally watched The Smartest Guys in the Room uh today. Yeah, I saw it last night. Yeah, the documentary based on the book.”
Passing
“we are talking about Enron which my guest today Bethany McLean uh first broke the story of and has written an amazing and detailed book about uh called the smartest guys in the room”
Passing
“um and I checked the index of the smartest guys in the room um and I I don't think he was mentioned in the book”