I read this book called "How Big Things Get Done." I've seen my fair share of projects going haywire and I wanted to understand if we could do better.
The book identifies uniqueness bias as an important reason for why most big projects overrun. (*) In short, this bias leads planners to view their projects as unique, thereby disregarding valuable lessons from previous similar projects.
(*) The book compiles 16,000 big projects across different domains. 99.5% of those projects overrun their timeline or budget. Others reasons for slipping include optimism bias, not relying on the right anchor, and strategic misrepresentation.
The book identifies uniqueness bias as an important reason for why most big projects overrun. (*) In short, this bias leads planners to view their projects as unique, thereby disregarding valuable lessons from previous similar projects.
(*) The book compiles 16,000 big projects across different domains. 99.5% of those projects overrun their timeline or budget. Others reasons for slipping include optimism bias, not relying on the right anchor, and strategic misrepresentation.