Unlock the Potential of Upstream Problem-Solving: The Journey to Avert Issues Before They Arise

JFG: This book so good Read, well written. The principle is quite simple, but well in this rated.
There are good illustrations of concepts, that one can apply in one’s own work.
It’s a relaxing read.

United Kingdom on Jul 08, 2023

Rodney P.: Dan Heath provides many great real life examples of 'Upstream' outcomes which both strongly and efficiently demonstrate human nature, when truly engaged on something - can bring forth change and outcomes by looking forward.

Thoroughly enjoyed the context, supported by the many references and practical 'real life' examples.

United Kingdom on May 13, 2023

Ken Dickson: In his book 'Upstream', Dan Heath provides a very interesting explanation and analysis of 'upstream thinking'. The writing style is very clear and the varied case studies referred to are understandable and accessible.

I remarked several times on how points made in the book reflected my own experience of trying to change status quo thinking via social entrepreneurship.

In one particular case, the author articulated my own long-held views about the way that social funding is often so dissipated by layers of intermediaries that relatively little of it ends up being provided to help the people it was intended to help. In my opinion this is a unique recognition and articulation of what is probably an unintended consequence of seeking to ensure value for money with public and social funding.

'Upstream' is highly recommended to anyone who wonders (a) why inappropriate measures are often used to assess the benefit of projects with a social purpose or (b) why it can seem to be so hard to make progress with what may seem to be self-evidently sensible programmes.

The book points to alternative ways of thinking and will help you develop stories that will increase...

United Kingdom on Jun 18, 2022

John W. Pearson: During this COVID-19 marathon, could there be a more relevant, timely book than “Upstream,” by bestselling author Dan Heath? No way. The big idea: solve problems before they happen. Customer complaints, crimes (and get this!)—chronic illnesses are preventable.

RELEVANT! We must experiment. Heath quotes systems thinker Donella Meadows. “Remember, always, that everything you know, and everything everyone knows is only a model. Get your model out there where it can be shot at. Invite others to challenge your assumptions and add their own….The thing to do, when you don’t know, is not to bluff and not to freeze, but to learn.

“The way you learn is by experiment—or, as Buckminster Fuller put it, by trial and error, error, error.”

TIMELY! Don’t make the problem worse. Heath notes, “When we fail to anticipate second-order consequences, it’s an invitation to disaster, as the ‘cobra effect’ makes clear. The cobra effect occurs when an attempted solution to a problem makes the problem worse.” That happened in India, during the UK’s colonial rule. “A bounty on cobras was declared,” and citizens received cash for producing dead cobras....

United States on Apr 15, 2020

Alok Kejriwal: Upstream - Book review.

A fascinating book. While reading it, I thought it wobbled a bit in the middle, but picked up well & ended with deep learnings.

This is why you MUST get this book:

- It's a nice & light read vs many of the heavy books I recommend 🙂

- The principal concept is to investigate, act, think AHEAD of occurrences.

- Ask "Why do these things happen" vs "Oh, that's the way it is. (The Expedia example is brilliant).

- Why solutions need to VERY carefully thought of. The "Cobra Effect" case is stunning.

- So many real-life cases of how careful study & planning has WORKED. The example of the Katrina Disaster Management plan deserves a standing applause.

- I learned a great productivity trick! It is to “score" meetings.

- The Boston Sidewalk repairs case is brilliant.

- How the concept of Upstream applies to Spam-Mails, Mentoring young mothers, handling student-teacher relationships and more.

- The Carpet Entrepreneur's moment of truth is stunning and scary 🙂 It's inspiring how the entrepreneur pivots!

- It's a solid, productive, self-help Book.

India on Apr 12, 2020

Craig Millar: The chapter on the challenges of seemingly distant problems takes on a new level of importance given the current Covid-19 pandemic!

As per previous Heath Brother books, there are loads of great stories. The author introduces characters doing work that is often not glamorous or well financially rewarded, but nonetheless incredibly important.
Some insightful examples that stuck in my head are:
- The story of why the travel website Expedia got to 20 million people calling them up for their itinerary before they started to take positive action
- The story of the school that drastically reduced drop out rates by letting go of a flawed tough-love approach.
And the fascinating story of how some nations have allowed their rate of C-section births to the level it has become a health problem.
To mess with a quote from Henry Thoreau, do we want to spend our time hacking away at the leaves of a problem or do you want to be someone striking at its root?

Overall, the idea that resonated with me the most is that you can’t help a thousand people until you understand how to help one. And the best way to do that is to see the problem up close so that you really...

United Kingdom on Mar 26, 2020

Dr Ali Binazir: What's the best time to prevent a burglary? When the criminal is still in his mother's belly, that's when.
"Upstream" espouses that radical shift in thinking: going to the source of the problem, as far back as we can go, to solve it *before* it arises. Prevention is like a vaccine: having nothing bad happen may not be as sexy as heroic corrective measures, but it is far cheaper and more efficient.
For example, there's a firm called P3 that uses complex motion capture technology "to micro-analyze athletes as they run, jump, and pivot." It then tells them which injuries they're most susceptible to, and re-trains them to prevent those injuries. Magic!

But how? "To succeed upstream, leaders must: detect problems early, target leverage points in complex systems, find reliable ways to measure success, pioneer new ways of working together, and embed their successes into systems to give them permanence."
Before you can do that, you need to overcome three obstacles:
1) Problem blindness: "You can’t solve a problem that you can’t see, or one that you perceive as a regrettable but inevitable condition of life.” If you think 'athletes just get injured', you'll never...

United States on Mar 04, 2020