Professor Bent Flyvbjerg on How Big Things Get Done

Why are major projects so often delayed and over budget? On this episode, I'm speaking to Bent Flyvbjerg, the author of 'How Big Things Get Done'.

Bent s a Danish economic geographer. He was the First BT Professor and Inaugural Chair of Major Programme Management at Oxford University's Saïd Business School and is the Villum Kann Rasmussen Professor and Chair of Major Program Management at the IT University of Copenhagen

On the show, we discuss:

• The pivotal role of human risk in the execution of mega-projects, ranging from small tasks like kitchen remodelling to monumental endeavours like bridge construction.
  
  
• The significant influence of cognitive and power biases on the success or failure of these large-scale undertakings;
  
  
• The importance of simplicity in project governance for smooth execution;
  
  
• The role of data collection and storytelling in the success of mega-projects and how availability bias can shape perceptions;
  
  
• The unique challenges of conducting research in China, particularly in terms of data collection;
  
  
• The concept of human risk as a consistent thread in mega-project management;
  
  
• The strategy of reference star forecasting for making more accurate predictions by collecting data from similar projects;
  
  
• Warren Buffett's views on compound interest and how initial delays in a project can compound over time, leading to further delays;
  
  
• The concept of 'fat tails' and its impact on risk management in mega-projects;
  
  
• The importance of recognizing intelligent infrastructure principles when allocating infrastructure spending.