Curation, or the art of selecting useful information to form meaningful collections, is the new buzzword that tech companies and media professionals have eagerly latched on to.

But curation is a far more powerful and deeply relevant idea than we give it credit for. It answers the question of how we live in a world where problems are often about having too much, and shows how we keep growing in a world of excess.

Acts of selecting, refining and arranging to add value help us overcome information overload. This book highlights the numerous places in which this simple but forceful skill is increasingly felt: in art and on the Web, but also in retail and manufacturing, high finance and government policy.

CURATION is an exciting and wide-ranging work of business-oriented non-fiction incorporating the latest thinking in economics, technology, business strategy, complexity theory, media and psychology with strong narratives and big ideas. Through powerful personal stories about real jobs, lives, companies and industries fighting to thrive in crowded markets, it reveals how a little-used word from the world of museums became a crucial business strategy for the 21st century.

Curation is one of the most gripping and unignorable business ideas for our time, and organisations and individuals who make the most of it will position themselves to grow.