How Big Things Get Done
Bent Flyvbjerg,Dan Gardner, 2023
Nothing is more inspiring than a big vision that becomes a triumphant new reality. Think of how Apple’s iPod went from a project with a single employee to an enormously successful product launch in eleven months. But such successes are the exception.
Tags: Business
💎 Gems 💎
We’re good at learning by tinkering—which is fortunate, because we’re terrible at getting things right the first time.
Small is good. For one thing, small projects can be simple.
It’s relatively easy to build something small and simple.
Think of how people typically learn: We tinker. We try this. We try that. We see what works and what doesn’t. We iterate. We learn. This is experimentation creating experience.
A good plan, as I said, is one that maximizes experience or experimentation; a great plan is one that does both. And the best plan? That’s one that maximizes experience and experimentation
GET YOUR TEAM RIGHT This is the only heuristic cited by every project leader I’ve ever met.
HIRE A MASTERBUILDER I sometimes say that this is my only heuristic because the masterbuilder—named after the skilled masons who built Europe’s medieval cathedrals—possesses all the phronesis needed to make your project happen. You want someone with deep domain experience and a proven track record of success in whatever you’re doing
BUILD WITH LEGO Big is best built from small. Bake one small cake. Bake another. And another. Then stack them.
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