The main idea for this book came from an unlikely source my research on group behavior, especially of groups interacting through electronic communication tools. I was stricken by the apparently paradoxical finding that even though the use of electronic communication tools made interaction more difficult for group members, electronic groups performed better than equivalent groups interacting primarily face-to-face.

I tried to find a sound explanation for my finding. After much thinking, I realized that the answer was in an analysis of the way group members interacted, which suggested one main answer to my paradoxical finding: group members had changed their behavior in such a way as to compensate for the obstacles posed by the electronic communication medium. Their compensatory behavior was very similar across different groups and even across different individuals, and was largely involuntary (i.e., group members were largely unaware that they had changed their communicative behavior in any particular way).

The finding was paradoxical because it suggested that, apparently, obstacles led to success, so to speak. That is, it was precisely the existence of obstacles that led electronic groups to perform better than face-to-face groups. This was a clear indication that, given the appropriate circumstances, less could be more, a finding that had tremendous implications for businesses and society in general.

After reaching that conclusion I started seeing evidence of compensatory adaptation in many other fields, and began to think of it as some sort of general phenomenon. One striking example that came to my attention as I was re-reading Michael Porters book The Competitive Advantage of Nations was that of Japan, whose success in the 1980s had apparently been due to the tremendous difficulties that the country had to face after World War II and the fact that it was poor in what Porter referred to as natural endowments (such as a soil rich in industrial metals). Porters own conclusion was that Japans difficulties, coupled with a national culture that promoted persistence and hard work, actually contributed to its success, by pushing the country into a large-group form of compensatory adaptation. For example, even though its soil lacked industrial metals, Japan became one of the leaders in the automotive industry, which used industrial metals extensively.

By then I had decided to write this book so that others could assess my views of compensatory adaptation and perhaps take advantage of the phenomenon. Unlike my other books, I decided to write this book for the general public, instead of any particular group of professionals. To make it more interesting for a general audience, I researched cases of compensatory adaptation involving individuals from different walks of life and in different circumstances. The book is sprinkled with several such cases, of which the three core cases are those of Helen Keller, an American writer, Stephen Hawking, a British astrophysicist, and the Gracies, a family of martial artists from Brazil. These cases cover three different national cultures, which I believe is a testament to the fact that compensatory adaptation is a very general phenomenon. Actually, its my belief based on the evidence that is presented in this book that anyone, absolutely anyone with no exceptions, can benefit from compensatory adaptation.

In Chapter 1, I introduce the notion of compensatory adaptation. Since my initial interest in the phenomenon emerged from my research on electronic groups, I discuss some of that research in Chapter 2, from which I tried to remove as many technical (i.e., information technology and research methodology) details and jargon as possible. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 discuss in detail the cases of Helen Keller, Stephen Hawking, and the Gracies, respectively. Those discussions are presented in a chronological way, so as to provide a clear idea as to how compensatory adaptation can propel apparent underachievers into the apex of their chosen profession. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses how compensatory adaptation can be harnessed by anyone to improve his or her life.

I hope you will enjoy reading this book as much as I did writing it. I also hope that my message will help you take advantage of this interesting and misunderstood phenomenon that I call compensatory adaptation.