Dan Gardner

Bent Flyvbjerg

Nothing is more inspiring than a big vision that becomes a triumphant new reality. Think of how Apple’s iPod went from a project with a single employee to an enormously successful product launch in eleven months. But such successes are the exception. Consider how London’s Crossrail project delivered five years late and billions over budget. More modest endeavours, whether launching a small business, organizing a conference, or just finishing a work project on time, also commonly fail. Why?

Understanding what distinguishes the triumphs from the failures has been the life’s work of Oxford professor Bent Flyvbjerg. In How Big Things Get Done, he identifies the errors that lead projects to fail, and the research-based principles that will make yours succeed:

Understand your odds. If you don’t know them, you won’t win.
Plan slow, act fast. Getting to the action quick feels right. But it’s wrong.
Think right to left. Start with your goal, then identify the steps to get there.
Find your Lego. Big is best built from small.
Master the unknown unknowns. Most think they can’t, so they fail. Flyvbjerg shows how you can.

The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything in Between

How Big Things Get Done

Cassandra Tang

A little neglect may breed great mischief. 

Planning is a safe harbour. Delivery is venturing across the storm-tossed seas.

In other words, workers didn’t build one 102-story building, they built 102 one-story buildings.

Anything bespoke is expensive and slow to make, like a tailored suit. But imagine a tailor who has little experience with suits making a bespoke suit for you and having to get it right on the first try. It’s not going to end well.

We are usually thinking fast and are chasing quicker solution while missing the bigger picture. 

How Big Things Get Done quotes

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