Upstream How to solve problems before they happen

Dan Heath — 2020

New York Times bestselling author Dan Heath asks what happens when we take our thinking upstream and try to prevent problems before they happen. Why 'solve' crimes when we could stop them being committed? Why treat chronic diseases when they could be prevented from developing? Why provide shelter for the homeless rather than working to keep people housed in the first place? Why do our efforts skew so heavily towards reaction rather than prevention? We all have a tendency to work around problems. We are resourceful. We improvise. We’re so accustomed to managing emergencies as they strike that we often don’t stop to think about how we could prevent crises before they happen. The notion of preventing problems is an evergreen need in our professional and daily lives. Which makes Upstream a book for skeptical optimists - across all sectors - who know it's not going to be easy, but who believe that we have the capacity to solve some of our thorniest issues, if only we start to think about the system rather than the symptoms. Drawing on insights from Dan Heath's extensive research, as well as hundreds of new interviews with unconventional problem solvers, he delivers practical solutions for preventing problems rather than simply reacting to them. 'Packed with vivid stories and practical examples, Upstream is the rare book that can both revitalize your business and make our world a better place.' - Daniel H. Pink, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of When, Drive and To Sell Is Human 'Informs, engages and, above all, entertains.’ – Charles Duhigg, bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Smarter, Faster, Better

Reviews

Sarah Schumacher@smschumacher

Jun 25, 2023

Excellent and actionable, like all of his books.

Daniel Toke Hansen@danieltoke

Feb 13, 2023

I love books by Dan Heath and this is no exception! As an Experience Designer, I often turn problems into solutions, and over the course of time, I've come to the realization that we focus too much on the solution (everybody can come up with ideas) and tend to neglect the problem. Instead of being reactive and dealing with the symptoms of a problem we should locate the real problem and deal with it and thereby prevent it from happening again. This book is about identifying and dealing with the real core problems. It's not rocket science and easy to read and understand. You might even have thought about it yourself. If you're still not sure if this book is for you I highly recommend reading/listening to the introduction which essentially explains the fundamental idea of the book. The rest is a "How-to-guide" with cases as examples.

Hrishikesh Bhaskaran@stultus

Nov 21, 2022

Good Insights, but unnecessarily stretched.

Nadine @intlnadine

Feb 18, 2022

A book made for those of us who get frustrated from bumping into the same time-wasting problems endlessly and who try to eliminate the issues at the source. Useful reminder & needs to be more widely read & put into practice

Christian Beck@cmbeck

Sep 26, 2021

This is an approachable and memorable overview of systems thinking (and in many ways, design thinking). Even those already familiar with these two fields will enjoy this book. I also appreciate his research and acknowledgment that this is a gateway book to learning more about systems thinking. I got a lot out of it alongside great resource recommendations to further my education in how to affect change further upstream.