How Big Things Get Done summary

Have you ever found yourself sticking to a project that isn't working out, simply because you've already invested so much time, effort, or money into it? If this is the case, you might be a victim of the commitment fallacy, which refers to the tendency to continue investing in a failing project or decision simply because we've already put so much into it. It's a common mistake made by policymakers and project managers who believe that by simply making a commitment to a particular course of action, they can overcome any obstacles that come their way. Unfortunately, this way of thinking often leads to disastrous results.

One example of this in action would be the California high-speed rail project. In 2008, voters approved a $9 billion measure to fund the construction of a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The project was expected to cost $33 billion and be completed by 2020. However, by 2019, the project was only 20 percent completed, with a projected cost of $80 billion –  and a completion date of 2033.

Have you ever faced a daunting task and felt overwhelmed just thinking about where to start? Or maybe you've had a big goal in mind but struggled to map out the steps needed to achieve it? It can be difficult to know where to start and how to get there. After all, we're not talking about small tasks – we're talking about audacious goals that require resources and coordination to accomplish. Luckily, there's a method for breaking down these challenges, no matter what the scale of your project is. 

It's called thinking from right to left or reverse engineering, and it involves working backwards from your desired outcome to determine the necessary steps. This is in contrast to the more common left to right thinking, where you start with the present situation and try to figure out how to move forward.

So, you're starting a big new project and wondering where to begin. Well, before you do so, consider this question: what's your Lego? It's the question that the world's most successful project leaders always ask themselves before embarking on something big.

This is because all big projects harness the power of modularity, this being the key to making big things happen. It's the idea of taking a small thing, like a Lego block, and repeating it over and over again until you've built something huge. You break down a big project down into smaller, more manageable pieces, and then put them back together again like a jigsaw puzzle. 

The iron law of megaprojects states that large and complex projects almost always go over budget, over schedule, or both. Even small projects, like home renovations, are susceptible to cost overruns and time delays due to their complexity. The commitment fallacy is the tendency to continue investing in a failing project or decision simply because we have already put so much into it, which often leads to disastrous results. To avoid this fallacy, be realistic about the challenges and transparent about the costs and risks. The process of reverse engineering or thinking from right to left can help individuals and organizations break down daunting challenges and achieve audacious goals. And finally, the key to making big things happen is modularity, or breaking a big project down into smaller, more manageable pieces, and repeating a small thing over and over again until something huge is built.