Have you ever heard the phrase "If you keep doing what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten?" I have seen the quote attributed to Henry Ford, as well as Tony Robbins. No matter who said it first, the fact remains that if people don't adapt, things may not turn out the way you had hoped.


In his new book, Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen, Dan Heath explores the psychology that causes people to be blind to their problems. And he also explores several case studies where people looked "Upstream" to find solutions to their problems in "out of the box" ways.


Right off the bat, the author tells a story that illustrates what creative problem solving can do. Chicago Public Schools had a big problem with low graduation rates. A group of educators got together and realized that the problem with low graduation rates starts clear back in freshmen year. The transition from eighth grade to high school was rough for many students. So Chicago Public Schools decided to focus on those incoming freshmen and graduation rates skyrocketed.

Other stories include the way Rockford, Illinois solved their homeless problem. And another story was about a software company that was struggling to get renewals, so they created a new role of onboarding specialist. (That one hits close to home, as I just created this very role for my company.)

Bottom Line - I absolutely loved Upstream. Dan Heath makes a very strong argument that it is important to be an "Upstream" thinker in order to solve problems.

Details:
Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath
Pages: 320
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Publication Date: 3/9/2020
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

This review will appear in the January-February issue of Global Business an Organizational Excellence. I received this copy from Allie Lawrence, so I will forward a copy of the review to her when it is published. Thank you so much for sharing the copy with me! I will post a blurb about the book on twitter when the review is out, and I also post ratings on Goodreads. I linked to that below, but for some reason goodreads is not showing the rating I gave right now online (it shows in my app.)

If you love clarity, organization, and purpose in a book, read any of Dan Heath's books. Upstream is no exception. Heath writes in a way that is so easy to follow. You understand the concepts of upstream and downstream from his first explanations. And why they are important.

"Downstream actions react to problems once they’ve occurred; upstream efforts aim to prevent those problems from happening."

Heath gives great examples of why we should think about problems BEFORE they happen instead of waiting to react to them AFTER they happen. He applies it systemically but also individually.

He'll have you questioning your own life to find ways you can fix issues.

"We can intervene at many points along an almost limitless timeline. In other words, you don’t head Upstream, as in a specific destination. You head upstream, as in a direction. Swim lessons are further upstream than life preservers."

I highly recommend Upstream. An easy 5 stars!

Thanks to Net Galley for the review copy of this book.

This was a very thought provoking book. The idea of tackling problems before they happen is so simple it is amazing that more is not written on the subject.

Why you really can’t make the changes you want

Stop putting band-aids on the problem and find the root cause. In Upstream: The Quest To Stop Problems Before They Happen by Chip Heath, he starts the book with a parable of two fishermen. Peacefully fishing on the banks of a stream one day, they see a child floundering in the water and shouting for help. They jump in and pull the child to safety, but just as they emerge from the water another kid in trouble appears. Again they rescue the child to only be met by another and then another child in the water. Finally, one of the fishermen walks to the bank and starts off upstream. His friend screams at him to ask why he is abandoning the rescue mission. His reply? “I’m going upstream to find the guy who is throwing all these children in the water.”

I know this seems like an extreme example but it proves a point. You can work yourself to exhaustion and frustration being reactive instead of taking time to step back and get to the upstream root cause of the problem. With the root cause identified you can get down to the deep work it takes to fix the problem.

Using the techniques in this book will help you figure ut not just how to solve your personal issues but to be a more engaged participant in community and workplace problem solving as well.

brilliant, detailed and thoughtful book, filled with new examples and stories of forward-thinking. Quite Us centric, but the messages are universal.

UPSTREAM

“A lot of the time, people become successful professionals because they’re good at problem solving,” I recall a colleague once remarking to me. “Over time, however, their added value comes less from problem solving and more from problem avoidance.”

I have to admit that I think about this a lot vis-a-vis the people with whom I work. So it was a pleasant surprise to discover that this very topic is what Dan Heath’s book Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen is all about.

Heath frames the issue in terms that will be very familiar to anyone who’s been in the weeds: while people are all too ready to address the urgent and immediate, this seldom addresses the root cause of a given problem. It’s easy to understand why, of course. The cost-benefit ratio of addressing an issue that’s right there in front of you is often quantifiable and tangible, whereas it’s often impossible to measure preventive interventions (which are successful by definition when the feared outcome does not come to pass). Yet it’s the latter approach that can save a lot of effort and resources, especially in the face of problems that are recurring or repetitive.

In short, Upstream is a book about systems thinking and zeroing in on the root causes of problems. What the book lacks in flair compared to Heath’s earlier works co-authored with his brother Chip—alas, there’s no catchy mnemonic device or simple metaphor to help readers become better upstream thinkers—it more than makes up for in practical insight that decision-makers can learn from to improve their problem-solving and problem-avoiding prowess.

Dan Heath explores problem solving in advance, or at it's ultimate root - which requires a different type of thinking. It's a hard mindset change to make - if it were intuitive to solve problems upstream, if we had the right data quality and knew the questions, we could spend more time improving and looking ahead - versus reacting.

I appreciated the various, real examples and how Dan reflected upon how this often requires personal commitment, courage of conviction, and passion. The challenge is how to do this in various fields of work - where often the questions leading to such changes are ambiguous at best. He does provide each question with a chapter. This book will be most impactful when you use it to think through how you address reactive tasks - and position yourself, your team, your organization, or broader - to think holistically and drive change.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for an honest review of this Advance Reader's Copy.

#danheath #upstream #netgalley #avidreaderpress #criticalthinking #problemsolving #rootcauseanalysis #dataanalysis #businessreads

As a professional in the Quality Assurance field, I was excited to read this book; a lot of what I do on a daily basis is Root Cause Analysis and implementation of Corrective Actions. It is preventing future problems before they happen. There were some interesting case studies that highlight this principle included in the book, and also some cautionary tales - it is definitely food for thought. It is well-written, but I didn't find myself as engaged in reading this book as some others I have read in the past, such as "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. This one felt like more of a chore to read, than a pleasure.

Where this book let me down is that it never really crosses over into providing strategies on how you can work to implement these strategies yourself. It would have been helpful to have some sort of "roadmap" on how to implement upstream thinking, and real change as a result. It is worth the read, but I dodn't feel like I could give it more than 3 stars.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to read this book but found myself wanting to get to the "how to" part of Upstream problem solving.

The idea that humans can solve potential issues IN ADVANCE of them becoming problems is an intriguing one. The author shares many effective examples. I was most interested in the Upstream drop out prevention process that was implemented in the Chicago Public Schools as well as the Sandy Hook prevention strategies that have made an impact with our adolescents in the US.

Although the author shares many poignant examples, he shares equally as many reasons why this process may be flawed and not work. This counterpoint was necessary but discouraging. I finished the book with some interesting examples to share with others but very few techniques to apply to my own work.

I got an advanced review copy (digital) of the book via NetGalley.. as with all the other Heath brothers book, I loved the book a lot. I have gifted 100’s of copies of Switch, Decisive, the power of moments and made to stick and it looks like I will be giving away 100’s of copied of this book to my friends, family and customers as well.

What I liked about the book:
- the book deals with the difficult question of how can we make prevention an important topic for all rather than just cure what is wrong.
- the framework that is suggested looks to be interesting and worth exploring.
- the case studies presented in the book are fresh and relevant!

What could have been different:
- One thing that I felt could have been done differently is for the author to have put together a simple visual depiction of the framework that we could remember or print a copy of and have it on our desks.. this would have made the book even more memorable!
- would be great if there was a community of change agents who want to do upstream work created! Since this is hard work, we could support & learn from each other!!

Highly recommended!!