Description

One of The Economists Best Books of 2023

The secrets to successfully planning and delivering ambitious complex projects on any scalefrom home renovation to space explorationby the worlds leading expert on megaprojects

Nothing is more inspiring than a big vision that becomes a triumphant newreality Think of how the Empire State Building went from a sketch to the jewel of New Yorks skyline in twentyone months or how Apples 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 Bostons 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 Californias highspeed rail project soared from 33 billion to 100 billonand wont 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 fail Why

Understanding what distinguishes the triumphs from the failures has been the lifes work of Oxford professor Bent Flyvbjerg dubbed the worlds leading megaproject expert In How Big Things Get Done he identifies the errors in judgment and decisionmaking that lead projects both big and small to fail and the researchbased principles that will make you succeed with yours For example

• Understand your odds If you dont know them you wont win
• Plan slow act fastGetting to the action quick feels right But its 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 wont succeed without an us
• Master the unknown unknowns Most think they cant 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 the latest Pixar blockbusters to a home renovation in Brooklyn gone awry How Big Things Get Done reveals how to get any ambitious project doneon time and on budget

For a visual representation of the charts and graphs mentioned throughout as well as Appendix A and B please be sure to download the Bonus PDF accompanying this program