Exploring failed and successful projects from home renovations to the completion of the Empire State Building, How Big Things Get Done acts as a guidebook to effective project management.
Understand what you’re getting into
Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner take readers through the steps of a project, providing insight into what factors can cause them to fail. They say most projects are at risk of being completed late, over budget, and disappointing the stakeholders involved.
But that’s not to say a project cannot be successful.
Plan, plan, plan
“Think slow, act fast” may be the biggest takeaway from How Big Things Get Done. The book argues that truly understanding what you are getting into before beginning any project is key, since proper planning can make or break a project.
That’s because if something goes wrong in the planning stage, it will have little to no impact on the project overall. But during the delivery phase, it could lead to disaster – which is why project managers need a plan that is detailed, has been tested, and considers the possibility of the unexpected.
Keeping the why front and centre
An understanding of why this project is being carried out is also essential. Who is it going to benefit? What changes will it bring? Understanding why will focus you on what matters and drive you to deliver results.
Working as a team
The greatest projects are carried out by a strong team. In an ideal world, that team would be led by the best of the best in the field – someone with an abundance of experience and a proven successful track record. The team must then be motivated, which can be done through positive incentives. For success and efficiency, managers should foster a positive organizational culture in which people feel free to speak their mind.
Keeping things in perspective
Due to human psychology, people are inclined to believe that their project is special, and that things will go a certain way for them despite the results of others. But this is naïve. The understanding that your project is a part of a larger class of projects is invaluable. Gathering data from and knowledge about similar projects will allow you to mitigate risks that you hadn’t thought of, and lead to a stronger understanding of your project overall.
By using real-world examples combined with insight from the authors’ personal experiences, How Big Things Get Done coaches readers to both plan and execute a project that is delivered on time, on budget, and exceeds expectations.
