Think slow, act fast

Book Review: How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg

Bent Flyvbjerg has consulted on over hundred projects each costing more than a billion dollar and has distilled his decades of experience and research in this book.  What I liked the most in this book is his approach in dealing the subject of Project Leadership based on the insights gained from the field of Psychology and Power (politics), rather than focusing on traditional management theory. I would highly recommend this book for all Managers, particularly to those who deal with large projects. 

Projects are promised to be completed by a certain time, at a certain cost, with certain benefits.  However, 91.5% of projects go over budget, over schedule, or both.  And 99.5% of projects go over budget, over schedule, under benefits, or some combination of these.  Only 0.5% of the projects pass the test.

Projects don’t’ go wrong, they start wrong

On project after project, rushed, superficial planning is followed by a quick start that makes everybody happy because shovels are in the ground.  But inevitably, the project crashes into problems that were overlooked or not seriously analysed and dealt with in planning.  People run around trying to fix things.  More stuff breaks.  There is more running around.  The author calls this “break-fix-cycle”.   Haste makes not only waste but tragedy. The author recommends making haste – slowly!  Think slow, act fast: That’s one of the secrets of success described in this book.

Like the well-known and often used phrase in carpentry, “measure twice, cut once”, the author gives a very good example of  how Pixar, the movie studio uses simulation and iteration to produce a plan that is creative, rigorous, detailed, and reliable – and highly likely to make delivery smooth and swift.

Commitment Fallacy: “Act in haste, repent at leisure”

Many examples of “acting before thinking” are given, particularly the speed – it is fundamentally typical of how big projects come together.  Purposes and goals are not carefully considered.  Alternatives are not explored.  Difficulties and risks are not investigated.  Solutions are not found.  Instead, shallow analysis is followed by quick lock-in to a decision that sweeps aside all the other forms the project could take.

Powerful individuals and organizations make the decisions, the number of stakeholders increases, they lobby for their specific interests, and the name of the game is politics. And the balance shifts from psychology to strategic misrepresentation.  The common denominator of any project is that people are making the decisions about it.  And wherever there are people, there are psychology and power.

Few more points I have noted, while reading this wonderful book is given below for a quick gist of the book:

Over Optimism

We definitely need optimism and a can-do attitude to inspire big projects and see them through.  Unchecked, optimism leads to unrealistic forecasts, poorly defined goals, better options ignored, problems not spotted and dealt with, and no contingencies to counteract the inevitable surprises.  Optimism routinely displaces hard-nosed analysis in big projects, as in so much else people do.

A bias against thinking

“Speed matters in business” notes one of Amazon’s famous leadership principles written by Jeff Bezos.  This isn’t the bias for action promoted by Jeff Bezos, it is bias against thinking.  Planning is working on the project.  Progress in planning is progress on the project, often the most cost-effective progress you can achieve.  We lose sight of these facts at our peril.

Sunk costs

Sunk costs should not be a factor in your thinking – but they probably will be because most people find it incredibly hard to push them out of their minds.  And so, people commonly “throw good money after bad”.

Commit to not commit

Don’t assume you know all there is to know.  If you’re a project leader and people on your team make this assumption – which is common – educate them or shift them out of the team.  At first, commit to having an open mind; that is, commit to not committing.

Think from right to left (Ask “why?”)

Developing a clear, informed understanding of what the goal is (typically final box on the right of a project plan flow chart) and why – and never losing sight of it from beginning to end – is the foundation of a successful project.

Planning

Planning is iteration and learning before you deliver at full scale, with careful, demanding, extensive testing producing a plan that increases the odds of the delivery going smoothly and swiftly.  Planning is relatively cheap and safe; delivering is expensive and dangerous.  Good planning boosts the odds of a quick, effective, delivery, keeping the window on risk small and closing it as soon as possible. Modularity delivers faster, cheaper, and better, making it valuable for all project types and sizes. What's our Lego? What is the small thing we can assemble in large numbers into a big thing? (e.g. of thousands of schools built in Nepal, Danish companies becoming experts in offshore wind farm projects.)

Taking the ‘Outside’ view

Switching the focus from your project to the class your project belongs to will lead, paradoxically, to a more accurate understanding of your projects. Know that your biggest risk is You! Focusing on the particular case and ignoring the class is what human psychology inclines us to do. 

Say “No”

Saying ‘No’ is essential for the success of a project and an organization.  To quote Steve Jobs,  “I am actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things we have done”.

Right leader, Right team

A project leader with abundant practical wisdom (pronesis) is the single greatest asset a project can have. Finally, the success of any project depends on getting the team right!

This book is worth its weight in gold. Highly recommended for anyone managing projects .