Fail Better

Author: Anjali Sastry
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
ISBN: 1422193454
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 330

Book Description
If you’re aiming to innovate, failure along the way is a given. But can you fail better? Whether you’re rolling out a new product from a city-view office or rolling up your sleeves to deliver a social service in the field, learning why and how to embrace failure can help you do better, faster. Smart leaders, entrepreneurs, and change agents design their innovation projects with a key idea in mind: ensure that every failure is maximally useful. In Fail Better, Anjali Sastry and Kara Penn show how to create the conditions, culture, and habits to systematically, ruthlessly, and quickly figure out what works, in three steps: 1. Launch every innovation project with the right groundwork 2. Build and refine ideas and products through iterative action 3. Identify and embed the learning Fail Better teaches you how to design your efforts to test the boundaries of your thinking, explore crucial interdependencies, and find the factors that can shift results from just acceptable to groundbreaking—or even world-changing. Practical instructions intertwined with compelling real-world examples show you how to: • Make predictions and map system relationships ahead of time so you can better assess results • Establish how much failure you can afford • Prioritize project activities for disconfirmation and iteration • Learn from every action step by collecting and examining the right data • Support efficient, productive habits to link action and reflection • Distill, share, and embed the lessons from every success and failure You may be a Fortune 500 manager, scrappy start-up innovator, social impact visionary, or simply leading your own small project. If you aim to break through without breaking the bank—or ruining your reputation—this book is for you.

Software Projects Secrets

Author: George Stepanek
Publisher: Apress
ISBN: 1430251026
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 173

Book Description
Software Project Secrets: Why Software Projects Fail offers a new path to success in the software industry. This book reaches out to managers, developers, and customers who use industry-standard methodologies, but whose projects still struggle to succeed. Author George Stepanek analyzes the project management methodology itself, a critical factor that has thus far been overlooked. He explains why it creates problems for software development projects and begins by describing 12 ways in which software projects are different from other kinds of projects. He also analyzes the project management body of knowledge to discover 10 hidden assumptions that are invalid in the context of software projects.

Why Startups Fail

Author: Tom Eisenmann
Publisher: Currency
ISBN: 0593137035
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Book Description
If you want your startup to succeed, you need to understand why startups fail. “Whether you’re a first-time founder or looking to bring innovation into a corporate environment, Why Startups Fail is essential reading.”—Eric Ries, founder and CEO, LTSE, and New York Times bestselling author of The Lean Startup and The Startup Way Why do startups fail? That question caught Harvard Business School professor Tom Eisenmann by surprise when he realized he couldn’t answer it. So he launched a multiyear research project to find out. In Why Startups Fail, Eisenmann reveals his findings: six distinct patterns that account for the vast majority of startup failures. • Bad Bedfellows. Startup success is thought to rest largely on the founder’s talents and instincts. But the wrong team, investors, or partners can sink a venture just as quickly. • False Starts. In following the oft-cited advice to “fail fast” and to “launch before you’re ready,” founders risk wasting time and capital on the wrong solutions. • False Promises. Success with early adopters can be misleading and give founders unwarranted confidence to expand. • Speed Traps. Despite the pressure to “get big fast,” hypergrowth can spell disaster for even the most promising ventures. • Help Wanted. Rapidly scaling startups need lots of capital and talent, but they can make mistakes that leave them suddenly in short supply of both. • Cascading Miracles. Silicon Valley exhorts entrepreneurs to dream big. But the bigger the vision, the more things that can go wrong. Drawing on fascinating stories of ventures that failed to fulfill their early promise—from a home-furnishings retailer to a concierge dog-walking service, from a dating app to the inventor of a sophisticated social robot, from a fashion brand to a startup deploying a vast network of charging stations for electric vehicles—Eisenmann offers frameworks for detecting when a venture is vulnerable to these patterns, along with a wealth of strategies and tactics for avoiding them. A must-read for founders at any stage of their entrepreneurial journey, Why Startups Fail is not merely a guide to preventing failure but also a roadmap charting the path to startup success.

Software Runaways

Author: Robert L. Glass
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN:
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
Introduction. Software runaway war stories. Software runaway remedies. Conclusions.

THE SIX - why So Many Projects Fail, and how to Succeed

Author: Andreas Trautner
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788797249000
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Book Description
Do you see too many struggling and failed projects and programmes in your organization? The problem: they are being set up to fail. Learn what goes wrong, what not to do and how to succeed Projects do not fail - people fail. They simply fail to set their projects up to succeed. In other words, you better hire the right people - or get lucky! Projects fail because of deep, systemic errors in the way we think about and manage them. Project management is not about filling out templates - it is about people collaborating to win in the market. A project starts with a change idea, and many ways to fail. You must be able to manage the full project value chain to succeed. The challenge for many companies is, that we believe that everyone knows what a project is. That is not true. This is why so many projects fail. In project management, there are six basic elements that people must master - it all starts with the mindset! In this book, you will learn about the six basic elements that is paramount for succeeding with change initiatives, regardless of which framework, methodology or method you apply. Apply the SIX to succeed in winning with our projects! This unusual and highly captivating book starts with the author failing enormously with a change initiative (project & programme). This book is about the author's journey to investigate exactly why so many change initiatives fail, and how you can become a master craftsman in change initiative management. A change initiative starts with a change idea that is created within an organization when an issue, threat, or opportunity is identified. To implement a change idea, the organization must start a change initiative. A successful change initiative ensures that business continues and improves, the employees are happier, there is ideal use of funds and resources, and the customers are more satisfied. Unfortunately, a fair majority of them fail to deliver optimal results and many of them fail outright. This book encapsulates how people and organizations can become better at implementing their change ideas. The difference between a failed change initiative and one that meets its desired objectives can be described by six fundamental, universal and tightly interwoven elements as explained by The SIX(c) model. Here is a preview of this invaluable book, and what else you will discover: ● Understanding change initiatives and what drives them to succeed or fail ● What is the change initiatives value chain and how it fits into the larger picture ● Where do the systemic errors lay and how to better craft a plan of action ● The Mindset, attitude, skills and leadership abilities needed to deliver successful change initiatives ..... And much more! As a key bonus, you will get exclusive access to chapters on why change management initiatives fail and how you should pursue a successful maturity journey. As someone who has extensively delved into project and programme management, the author understands your specific concerns and has made the contents of this book as concise and simple to follow as possible for your convenience. It is a must-read for all who work in an organization. Whether you are the CEO, a change initiative leader or manager within your organization, you need to read and understand this book

Leading Change

Author: John P. Kotter
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 1422186431
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
From the ill-fated dot-com bubble to unprecedented merger and acquisition activity to scandal, greed, and, ultimately, recession -- we've learned that widespread and difficult change is no longer the exception. By outlining the process organizations have used to achieve transformational goals and by identifying where and how even top performers derail during the change process, Kotter provides a practical resource for leaders and managers charged with making change initiatives work.

Why Government Fails So Often

Author: Peter H. Schuck
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691168539
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 484

Book Description
"From healthcare to workplace conduct, the federal government is taking on ever more responsibility for managing our lives. At the same time, Americans have never been more disaffected with Washington, seeing it as an intrusive, incompetent, wasteful giant. The most alarming consequence of ineffective policies, in addition to unrealized social goals, is the growing threat to the government's democratic legitimacy. Understanding why government fails so often--and how it might become more effective--is an urgent responsibility of citizenship. In this book, lawyer and political scientist Peter Schuck provides a wide range of examples and an enormous body of evidence to explain why so many domestic policies go awry--and how to right the foundering ship of state.Schuck argues that Washington's failures are due not to episodic problems or partisan bickering, but rather to deep structural flaws that undermine every administration, Democratic and Republican. These recurrent weaknesses include unrealistic goals, perverse incentives, poor and distorted information, systemic irrationality, rigidity and lack of credibility, a mediocre bureaucracy, powerful and inescapable markets, and the inherent limits of law. To counteract each of these problems, Schuck proposes numerous achievable reforms, from avoiding moral hazard in student loan, mortgage, and other subsidy programs, to empowering consumers of public services, simplifying programs and testing them for cost-effectiveness, and increasing the use of "big data." The book also examines successful policies--including the G.I. Bill, the Voting Rights Act, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and airline deregulation--to highlight the factors that made them work.An urgent call for reform, Why Government Fails So Often is essential reading for anyone curious about why government is in such disrepute and how it can do better"--

Guaranteed to Fail

Author: Viral V. Acharya
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400838096
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 233

Book Description
Why America's public-private mortgage giants threaten the world economy—and what to do about it The financial collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2008 led to one of the most sweeping government interventions in private financial markets in history. The bailout has already cost American taxpayers close to $150 billion, and substantially more will be needed. The U.S. economy--and by extension, the global financial system--has a lot riding on Fannie and Freddie. They cannot fail, yet that is precisely what these mortgage giants are guaranteed to do. How can we limit the damage to our economy, and avoid making the same mistakes in the future? Guaranteed to Fail explains how poorly designed government guarantees for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led to the debacle of mortgage finance in the United States, weighs different reform proposals, and provides sensible, practical recommendations. Despite repeated calls for tougher action, Washington has expanded the scope of its guarantees to Fannie and Freddie, fueling more and more housing and mortgages all across the economy--and putting all of us at risk. This book unravels the dizzyingly immense, highly interconnected businesses of Fannie and Freddie. It proposes a unique model of reform that emphasizes public-private partnership, one that can serve as a blueprint for better organizing and managing government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In doing so, Guaranteed to Fail strikes a cautionary note about excessive government intervention in markets.

Failing in the Field

Author: Dean Karlan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691183139
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 174

Book Description
A revealing look at the common causes of failures in randomized control experiments during field reseach—and how to avoid them All across the social sciences, from development economics to political science, researchers are going into the field to collect data and learn about the world. Successful randomized controlled trials have brought about enormous gains, but less is learned when projects fail. In Failing in the Field, Dean Karlan and Jacob Appel examine the taboo subject of failure in field research so that researchers might avoid the same pitfalls in future work. Drawing on the experiences of top social scientists working in developing countries, this book describes five common categories of failures, reviews six case studies in detail, and concludes with reflections on best (and worst) practices for designing and running field projects, with an emphasis on randomized controlled trials. Failing in the Field is an invaluable “how-not-to” guide to conducting fieldwork and running randomized controlled trials in development settings.

Why Projects Fail and How to Succeed

Author: Mark Anthony Hunt
Publisher: Independent Publisher
ISBN: 9781792302213
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 172

Book Description
Douglas Fain and Mark Hunt have a combined consulting experience in the field of project management of over 50 years working for four national governments and numerous corporations and government agencies. They have consulted on over $35 Billion in major projects in over 40 countries and have taught project management in graduate programs at Stevens Institute of Technology, Denver University, and Regis University as well as corporate settings in aerospace, telecommunications, manufacturing, and others. That experience facilitated the management of large, complex projects that were in the initiation stage or facing serious performance problems. They both agree that business can no longer afford the personal and financial costs of failed projects. Neither can organizations or their project teams afford the reputation for failure that so permeates the industry today. The opportunity costs of such failures is just too great for a society that has growing needs for its citizens. This book represents their findings regarding why projects tend to fail, and as true consultants, they have also included a clear and concise set of instructions of how to avoid those failures, how to do it right the first time. This book is mandatory reading for anyone working in the field of project management, especially project managers who struggle with the responsibility for the success of their projects.