Encouraging...Uplifting...Meeting apparently insurmountable goals requires thinking big...this
will inspire. -Publishers Weekly Raj Shah has written a practical guide to making the world a
better place. He knows what he's talking about because he's done it himself. Anyone who wants
to make a change in the world or their own lives will benefit from this book. -Bill Gates
Cochair Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Rajiv J. Shah president of the Rockefeller Foundation
and former administrator of President Barack Obama's United States Agency for International
Development shares a dynamic new model for creating large scale change inspired by his own
involvements with some of the largest humanitarian projects of our time. Rajiv J. Shah is no
stranger to pulling off the impossible from helping vaccinate 900 million children at the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation to a high-pressure race against the clock to stop the spread of
Ebola. His secret? A big bets philosophy-the idea that seeking to solve problems rather than
make incremental improvements can attract the unlikely partners with the power and know-how to
achieve transformational change. Part career sweeping memoir part inspirational playbook Big
Bets offers a master class in decision-making leadership and changing the world one bet at a
time. Shah animates his strategic insights with vivid behind-the-scenes stories memorable
conversations with household names that helped shape his approach to creating change and his
own personal growth as an Indian-American from an immigrant family looking for a way to belong.
He distills his battle-tested strategies for creating change arguing that big bets have a
surprising advantage over cautious ones: a bold vision can attract support collaborations and
fresh ideas from key players who might otherwise be resistant. Throughout the book Shah traces
his unlikely path to the Rockefeller Foundation across a changing world and through some of the
most ambitious dramatic global efforts to create a better world.
