Why do big projects go wrong so often and are there any lessons you can use when renovating
your kitchen? Bent Flyvbjerg is the ‘megaproject’ expert and Dan Gardner brings the
storytelling skills to How Big Things Get Done with examples ranging from a Jimi Hendrix
studio to the Sydney Opera House.”—Financial Times Entertaining . . . There are lessons here
for managers of all stripes.”—The Economist A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Economist Financial Times
CEO Magazine MorningstarFinalist for the Porchlight Business Book Award the Financial Times
and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award and the Inc. Non-Obvious Book AwardNothing is
more inspiring than a big vision that becomes a triumphant new reality. Think of how the
Empire State Building went from a sketch to the jewel of New York’s skyline in twenty-one
months or how Apple’s iPod went from a project with a single employee to a product launch in
eleven months.These are wonderful stories. But most of the time big visions turn into
nightmares. Remember Boston’s Big Dig”? Almost every sizeable city in the world has such a
fiasco in its backyard. In fact no less than 92% of megaprojects come in over budget or over
schedule or both. The cost of California’s high-speed rail project soared from $33 billion to
$100 billon—and won’t even go where promised. More modest endeavors whether launching a small
business organizing a conference or just finishing a work project on time also commonly
stall out. But why do some projects fail?Understanding what distinguishes the triumphs from the
failures has been the life’s work of Oxford professor Bent Flyvbjerg dubbed the world’s
leading megaproject expert.” In How Big Things Get Done he identifies the errors in judgment
and decision-making that lead projects both big and small to fail and the research-based
principles that will make you succeed with yours. For example:• 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.• Be a team maker. You won’t succeed
without an us.”• Master the unknown unknowns. Most think they can’t so they fail. Flyvbjerg
shows how you can.• Know that your biggest risk is you.Full of vivid examples ranging from the
building of the Sydney Opera House to the making of Pixar blockbusters to a home renovation
in Brooklyn gone awry How Big Things Get Done reveals how to get any ambitious project done—on
time and on budget.
