How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything in Between
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-02-28 10:51:38
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Bent Flyvbjerg
- ISBN：077109843X
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Summary
The secrets to successfully planning and delivering ambitious， complex projects on any scale--from home renovation to space exploration--by the world's leading expert on megaprojects。
Nothing 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 fail。 Why？
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 the latest 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。
Nothing 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 fail。 Why？
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 the latest 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。
Reviews
Peter Tillman
，
WSJ's positive review:https://www。wsj。com/articles/how-big-。。。（Paywalled。 As always， I'm happy to email a copy to non-subscribers） Excerpt:"Mr。 Flyvbjerg identifies two common flaws in developing large-scale projects: inadequate planning and prolonged execution。 Managers and politicians have a bias for action， he says， often treating planning as an annoyance that must be endured before the real work begins。 Imposing tight deadlines for completion may end up adding costs and time， because the eas WSJ's positive review:https://www。wsj。com/articles/how-big-。。。（Paywalled。 As always， I'm happy to email a copy to non-subscribers） Excerpt:"Mr。 Flyvbjerg identifies two common flaws in developing large-scale projects: inadequate planning and prolonged execution。 Managers and politicians have a bias for action， he says， often treating planning as an annoyance that must be endured before the real work begins。 Imposing tight deadlines for completion may end up adding costs and time， because the easiest way to craft a tighter schedule is to short-circuit the planning process。 Rushed planning can result in problems that crop up later， generating delays that push up the cost。Thorough planning， in Mr。 Flyvbjerg’s view， should be followed by quick execution: The biggest source of risk， he says， is low-probability events—black swans—that occur after the start of construction or implementation。 This is the time when a pandemic， a burst of inflation， a labor dispute or a natural disaster can delay even the best plans and upend cost estimates。 The way to mitigate the risk， he says， is to “think slow， act fast，” investigating the project carefully on the front end but then， following the decision to proceed， moving full speed ahead。" 。。。more
Jay Strickler
，
Excellent book on project management。 My 30 years as someone who gets big things done backs up every lesson this book teaches。 The most important？ Plan， plan， plan。
Andy
，
Think slow， act fast。 That sums up the book。 This is not a shocking new insight--see "Measure twice， cut once，" etc。 It is nevertheless very refreshing in a culture where "Move fast and break things" is seen as brilliant wisdom， even after Facebook's philosophy has damaged the world in many ways。 I also appreciate the author offering data beyond anecdotes to back up his case， and also carefully taking apart the arguments against his thesis。 This book focuses on big construction projects， but the Think slow， act fast。 That sums up the book。 This is not a shocking new insight--see "Measure twice， cut once，" etc。 It is nevertheless very refreshing in a culture where "Move fast and break things" is seen as brilliant wisdom， even after Facebook's philosophy has damaged the world in many ways。 I also appreciate the author offering data beyond anecdotes to back up his case， and also carefully taking apart the arguments against his thesis。 This book focuses on big construction projects， but the principles are valid I would guess for most projects， and for avoiding many kinds of disasters。The expert author ate his own cooking and partnered with a professional writer to produce a book， and so it's more readable than the scientific content might suggest。 The book ends with a succinct 11 heuristics for project leadership。Maybe this book will be a lesson to those in power。 For now， it can make people who fight against corruption and incompetence feel a little less alone， and that's a good thing。 Quotes:-Unfortunately， what is "fundamentally typical of how big projects come together" is that "Purposes and goals are NOT carefully considered。 Alternatives are NOT explored。 Difficulties and risks are NOT investigated。 Solutions are NOT found。" -"The genius of our species， however， is that we can learn not only from our own experience but that of others。 Edison himself started his experiments on lightbulb filaments by studying the results of the many other scientists and inventors who had tried to create an efficient lightbulb before him。 。。。 A good plan is one that meticulously applies experimentation or experience。 A great plan is one that rigorously applies both。" 。。。more
Peter Brander
，
This book should be required reading for everyone。 Ideas are presented clearly making the book accessible to all。
MintyMint
，
Interesting examples， and good points， but not specifically groundbreaking if you're familiar with project management philosophies and have experience building things。Modularity， prototyping with regular feedback loops， and assembling an experienced team is what leads to a good learning curve。 Anticipating future problems by looking at other projects around you rather than focusing on what "makes yours special" is important。 Starting any planning by asking the real questions: what's the goal， wh Interesting examples， and good points， but not specifically groundbreaking if you're familiar with project management philosophies and have experience building things。Modularity， prototyping with regular feedback loops， and assembling an experienced team is what leads to a good learning curve。 Anticipating future problems by looking at other projects around you rather than focusing on what "makes yours special" is important。 Starting any planning by asking the real questions: what's the goal， who is the client， what are the needs， etc。， rather than focusing on a solution first。 All of this is probably not surprising to people who have had success in their projects until now。 However， having good examples and explanations in layman's terms has value。 Two things that left me a bit disappointed: - The book doesn't give you a lot of help when it comes to large one-off projects。 It makes it clear that you should strive for modularity， but what if you're stuck in a big one-off， such as a nuclear waste facility？ What do we do then？ - The author focuses on modularity and delivery， which is the point of the book， but from there he assumes that we can build an energy policy out of it。 I am deeply skeptical if this is really the right angle to look at an energy policy。 Yes， solar panels and windmills don't know gigantic failures in terms of delivery， but it's not the whole picture。 They are fundamentally intermittent， so they require installation of double capacity to overcome intermittence （batteries， fossil fuel）， which means they require lots of mined resources， which means they have their own pitfalls that need to be taken into account when drafting an energy policy。 The author also talks about the low price of renewables （LCOE） which doesn't reflect the cost of strains on the electrical grid and the cost of storage。 He spins hydrogen as a wonderful source of energy while it's very problematic to transport and dirty to produce （unless paired with nuclear fusion/fission to utilize the extra heat produced for example）。 In a nutshell: energy is not his field of expertise which makes this chapter very shaky and it is a shame because he didn't need to touch on that topic！ Overall not an unpleasant read at all， but for experts in project management or energy looking for deep insights， it's maybe not worth your time。 。。。more
Mark Polino
，
Highly recommended。 Fast， importantly read。
Timon
，
An excellent book on large project management， the importance of experience， and the power of leveraging tried and tested building blocks and modularization。
Horia Opris
，
Provides planning and construction rules that could form a “how big things get done” hypothesis。 The hypothesis would be difficult to test though as it’s not very precise， but that doesn’t stop predictions being made of trillions of dollars that can be saved annually if the rules are applied to all big projects。Acknowledges that projects in Silicon Valley are done completely differently， but it tries to explain -not very convincingly- how they actually do fit the thesis。 There are some interesti Provides planning and construction rules that could form a “how big things get done” hypothesis。 The hypothesis would be difficult to test though as it’s not very precise， but that doesn’t stop predictions being made of trillions of dollars that can be saved annually if the rules are applied to all big projects。Acknowledges that projects in Silicon Valley are done completely differently， but it tries to explain -not very convincingly- how they actually do fit the thesis。 There are some interesting things to learn from the book， for example that solar power generation projects are the least likely type of project to be late or over budget， but most of it are bits that do seem plausible， but not necessarily proven。 。。。more
Kelly Almon
，
if The Title Grabs YouThis book delivers a fantastic insight into building mega projects。 It is must reading for any local government official who’s jurisdiction is planning any sizable project， like mine， a new county courthouse。
Kate
，