Book Review - “How Big Things Get Done”

A month or so ago I made a post about starting into this book, How Big Things Get Done.

Having now finished reading it, I think it should be compulsory reading for anyone leading a project (in any capacity) and anyone thinking of initiating one – politicians included. And the bigger and more ambitious the project, the more important it is to read it, reflect and absorb the learnings synthesised from a database of 16,000+ projects 20+ different fields in 136 countries.

The insights are too numerous to do justice to in this post, but the book’s chapter structure provides a great roadmap and a flavour for the sentiments:

1. Think slow, act fast – getting into action quickly feels right, but it’s wrong.
2. The commitment fallacy – you need to commit, but not in the way you think.
3. Think from right to left – start with the most basic question of all: Why?
4. Pixar planning – plan like Pixar and Frank Gehry do*.
5. Are you experienced? Experience is often misunderstood and marginalised.
6. So, you think your project is unique? Think again, your project is “one of those”.
7. Can ignorance be your friend? – Planning ruins projects, some say. But is it true?
8. A single determined organism – everyone must row in the same direction, toward delivery.
9. What’s your Lego? - modularity is the key to building at world-transforming scale.

*Frank Gehry is the world leading architect who delivered the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Spoiler alert – this chapter is all about prototyping, iteration and experimentation (the closest reference to “agile” I came across in the book!)

Its title notwithstanding, How Big Things Get Done is not just for commissioners of large projects. It’s relevant for everyone, because most people will manage a project at some point in their life, and that project may be very “big” for them – a mistake in budgeting or planning a house renovation can cost thousands more, sometimes multiples of what was budgeted. Forewarned is forearmed!

Happy reading.
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