Ep. 195: Bent Flyvbjerg - On How Big Things Get Done

Today, we talk about how big things get done. A 'big thing' can mean a large infrastructure project, an IT project at work, or something in your personal life like a home renovation, a big adventure, or an event you're organising. The sad truth is, the vast majority – in fact, almost – big projects end up over budget, delayed, and they don't provide the planned benefits. This is something well-researched and backed up by data. It is the 'Iron Law of Mega Projects' as you will hear. That's the bad news. The good news is that joining us on this episode of the podcast is Professor Bent Flyvbjerg who is the world's leading megaproject expert. Prof. Flyvbjerg teaches at the University of Oxford and the IT University of Copenhagen. He has consulted on over 100 megaprojects costing $1 billion or more and has been knighted by the Queen of Denmark. He is the co-author of the fantastic new book How Big Things Get Done – The Surprising Factors Behind Every Successful Project From Home Renovations to Space Exploration. Bent joins in what I think is a fabulous conversation in which he shares: ·      The Iron Law of Mega Projects; ·      Why projects 'don't go wrong, they start wrong'; ·      Why projects are not goals in and of themselves and what we can learn from legendary architect Frank Gehry; ·      What the Tour de France teaches up about risk; ·      What lego has to do with all this; ·      Much more!    Show notes: Prof Bent Flyvbjerg How Big Things Get Done Bent on LinkedIn Thinking, Fast and Slow Availability bias Frank Gehry Pixar The Bilbao Guggenheim The Sydney Opera House Reference Class Forecasting Robert Caro on LBJ and Robert Moses The Black Swan Madrid Metro SSRN Academia.edu _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: [email protected]  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our free course module "How to Set Up Any Decision for Success" from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence