Book
Upstream : the quest to solve problems before they happen / Dan Heath.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781982134723 (hc.)
- Physical Description: ix, 308 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
- Edition: 1st Avid Reader Press hardcover ed.
- Publisher: New York : Avid Reader Press, 2020.
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-298) and index. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Success in business. Problem solving. Decision making. Organizational behavior. Social psychology. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Decoda Literacy Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Other Formats and Editions
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decoda Literacy Library | 658.403 H43 2020 (Text) | 35410000064626 | General Collection | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2020 March #1
Most problems are solved by reacting: doctors treat patients for diseases; firefighters put out flames; consumers borrow money to cover expenses. Heath proposes another approach: working "upstream," that is, heading off problems before they become problems. To do this, you need to first identify the real issue, then take ownership of its solution, and finally break out of the usual responses. Of course, it's not as easy as it sounds. Heath goes into detail describing ways to bring fellow problem solvers together, measure successes, and pay for changes. He warns of traps, including manipulating data and causing more harm than good, as on Macquarie Island, where hunters destroyed wildlife, and biologists made things worse by introducing other species. He shares a variety of successes, including pediatricians uniting to promote children's car seats, Chicago Public Schools cutting drop-out rates, and city planners in Boston finding equitable ways to fix sidewalks. Not every threat of crisis comes about, but Heath presents a convincing argument for shifting resources "upstream" and focusing on prevention rather than cure. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2020 January #2
Psychology meets neuroscience and self-help in this engaging study by business writer Heath (co-author: The Power of Moments: Why Certain Moments Have Extraordinary Impact, 2017, etc.). If the fish floating down a river have three heads, then it behooves any curious-minded person to travel upstream and find out why. Just so, if half of high school students are failing in a certain district, then one can either try to throw money and words at the problem ("Stay in school, kids!") or venture into the alien territory outside the classroom to find out how to keep them going. That's just what happened in Chicago, writes Heath, where teachers formed interdisciplinary teams offering support to legions of at-risk students, determining that if first-year students can be kept on track, they're likely to stay in school to the endâand wind up making at least $500,000 more over a lifetime as compared to their dropout peers. The author examines numerous turning-point moments when finding "upstream" things to fix might have led to better and different results. For example, when, in 1974, a scientific paper was published describing a disappearing ozone layer, that was the time to do something about itânot now. "Creating urgency" is one task the would-be problem-solver must address. Another is getting the right people on board to create desired effects, such as lowering teen drug use by making it outré: "What if drug and alcohol use came to feel abnormal in their world rather than normal?" A change of mindsets is rarely easy, but it can be done, and best so, by Heath's account, by looking farther along at the chain of events than the problem itself. That habit of mind, he writes, helps explain why the incidence of death by thyroid cancer is so low in South Korea, and it also points to a central truth: "Systems have great power and permanence; that's why upstream efforts must culminate in systems change." A smart, provocative book that guides readers to better decision-making when confronting seemingly intractable problems. Copyright Kirkus 2020 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - LJ Express Reviews : LJ Express Reviews
Heath (Duke Univ. CASE Knowledge Ctr.), who has coauthored four books with his brother Chip Heath, e.g.,
Copyright 2020 LJExpress.Made To Stick , here writes a solo work about moving "upstream" to get at the source of problems before they occur. Using examples such as an online travel company's plans to decrease customer service complaints, Heath shows how the principles of upstream thinking are applied to achieve positive results, and how this approach has been used to prevent or ameliorate issues. The approach involves getting buy-in from a variety of stakeholders who work together to examine a problem from all angles, assess multiple data points, and tackle the issue in a concerted fashion.VERDICT Many of the situations addressed in this book--from customer service to crime to chronic illness--are daunting. Yet, the commitment and ingenuity used to tackle the issues are nothing less than inspirational. Every organization could benefit from upstream thinking.âCarol Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater Libs. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2020 January #2
Heath (
Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly.The Power of Moment s, coauthor), a senior fellow at Duke's CASE Knowledge Center, urges a preventive, rather than reactive, problem-solving approach in his eloquent manifesto. With the frenetic pace of modern life, Heath observes, it's easy to become accustomed to putting out fires instead of looking for the spark that's igniting them. His examples of proactive, "upstream" thinking include a domestic violence prevention task force which, by bringing together police officers, victims' advocates, health-care workers, and others, has eliminated intimate partner-perpetrated murders in the Massachusetts communities it has served for 14 years running. His takeaways include the need to "unite the right people" (as the domestic violence task force demonstrates), pay attention to early warnings, and find the right point of "leverage" to solve a problem. To illustrate this last principle, Heath cites a mentoring program which, by teaching young men peaceful conflict resolution skills, drastically reduced arrests and violent crimes in a Chicago neighborhood. He finishes by addressing larger-scale problems, using as an example a hurricane preparation exercise conducted in New Orleans just 13 months before Katrina that saved many thousands of additional people from dying. This is a pragmatic guide for those seeking big changes on either an individual or organizational level.Agent: Christy Fletcher, Fletcher & Company (Mar.)
