Moving upstream of problems – Book Review

In a year in which we’ve often felt like we’re continually reacting, the book Upstream is a welcome reminder that we are capable of taking control of large parts of our lives.

Written by author Dan Heath, the book’s full title is Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen. It examines why we tend to focus on reaction rather than prevention and guides the reader how to break out of the cycle of response and head “upstream” rather than staying downstream.

Heath uses anecdotes to describe how people and companies identified details that could help them predict where problems would occur, then intervene before they arose. He describes “problem blindness,” in which we can’t solve a problem we don’t see or believe to be inevitable, and how to move past it.

He also helps leaders look at the systems they’ve set up–or have failed to establish–and to identify where they work and where they need help.

As the book’s description on Amazon says, “How many problems in our lives and in society are we tolerating simply because we’ve forgotten that we can fix them?”

Heath is the co-author, with his brother Chip, of four New York Times bestsellers, including Made to Stick; Switch; Decisive; and The Power of Moments.