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

Projects are not goals in themselves. Projects are how goals are achieved.

When laid out like that, it’s obviously a bad idea. But remember that it emerges from a desire to get going on a project, to see work happening, to have tangible evidence of progress. That’s good. Everyone involved in a project should have that desire. It becomes trouble only when we belittle planning as the annoying stuff we have to deal with befo

Projects routinely start with answers, not questions.

Slow isn’t good in itself. Like David and Deborah, people can spend years daydreaming about a project but have nothing more than daydreams to show for it, just as organizations can burn enormous amounts of time holding meetings filled with meandering discussions that never go anywhere.

“reference-class forecasting” (RCF).

Projects are often started by jumping straight to a solution, even a specific technology. That’s the wrong place to begin. You want to start by asking questions and considering alternatives. At the outset, always assume that there is more to learn. Start with the most basic question of all: Why?

“Especially when under time pressure, they perceive planning to be wasted effort.”[22]

When this bias for action is generalized into the culture of an organization, the reversibility caveat is usually lost.

A preference for doing over talking—sometimes distilled into the phrase “bias for action”—is an idea as common in business as it is necessary.