Economics writer Tim Harford studies complex systems -- and finds a surprising link among the successful ones: they were built through trial and error. In this sparkling talk from TEDGlobal 2011, he asks us to embrace our randomness and start making better mistakes.

Tim Harford (born 1973) is an English economist and journalist, residing in London.Tim Harford is the bestselling author of The Undercover Economist, and a member of the editorial board of the Financial Times, where he also writes the “Dear Economist” column.