Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen

by Dan Heath Narrated by Dan Heath

Overview

Wall Street Journal Bestseller

New York Times bestselling author Dan Heath explores how to prevent problems before they happen, drawing on insights from hundreds of interviews with unconventional problem solvers.

So often in life, we get stuck in a cycle of response. We put out fires. We deal with emergencies. We stay downstream, handling one problem after another, but we never make our way upstream to fix the systems that caused the problems. Cops chase robbers, doctors treat patients with chronic illnesses, and call-center reps address customer complaints. But many crimes, chronic illnesses, and customer complaints are preventable. So why do our efforts skew so heavily toward reaction rather than prevention?

Upstream probes the psychological forces that push us downstream-including “problem blindness,” which can leave us oblivious to serious problems in our midst. And Heath introduces us to the thinkers who have overcome these obstacles and scored massive victories by switching to an upstream mindset. One online travel website prevented twenty million customer service calls every year by making some simple tweaks to its booking system. A major urban school district cut its dropout rate in half after it figured out that it could predict which students would drop out-as early as the ninth grade. A European nation almost eliminated teenage alcohol and drug abuse by deliberately changing the nation's culture. And one EMS system accelerated the emergency-response time of its ambulances by using data to predict where 911 calls would emerge-and forward-deploying its ambulances to stand by in those areas.

Upstream delivers practical solutions for preventing problems rather than reacting to them. How many problems in our lives and in society are we tolerating simply because we've forgotten that we can fix them?

Editorial Reviews

AUGUST 2020 - AudioFile

Author Dan Heath’s narration of this absorbing audiobook sounds as smooth and self-assured as his writing. He’s mastered the art of creating spellbinding narratives and questions, followed by fascinating research summaries and well-organized insights. With the sound of his youthful engagement in full song from start to finish, Heath explains how individuals and institutions can become less reactive to problems and more focused on anticipating their causes and preventing them. Heath’s examples are wide ranging—from social problems like school dropout rates to management, health, and interpersonal dilemmas. While many of the challenges he describes are familiar and the solutions self-evident, the audio as a whole has a curious power that will inspire listeners to become more proactive about life's large and small problems. T.W. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

01/13/2020

Heath (The Power of Moments, 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.)

From the Publisher

Dan Heath has written the ultimate primer on the power of prevention, a work that deserves a prominent place on every leader’s bookshelf. Packed with vivid stories and practical examples, Upstream is the rare book that can both revitalize your business and make our world a better place." —Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When, Drive, and To Sell Is Human

"Upstream contains research and storytelling that informs, engages and, above all, entertains. If you want to stop firefighting problems and prevent them from happening in the first place, then you should read what Dan Heath has to say." —Charles Duhigg, New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better

“Upstream draws on examples from across the spectrum, from sport to business. But Heath is clever enough to focus on significant societal issues, such as sexual harassment, climate change, and school shootings, which gives the book a substantial feel that some more superficial problem-solving manuals lack.” —Financial Times, Best Book of the Month

“Psychology meets neuroscience and self-help in this engaging study by business writer Heath. . . . A smart, provocative book that guides readers to better decision-making when confronting seemingly intractable problems.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[An] elegant 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. . . . This is a pragmatic guide for those seeking big changes on either an individual or organizational level.” —Publishers Weekly

“Heath presents a convincing argument for shifting resources ‘upstream’ and focusing on prevention rather than cure.” —Booklist

PRAISE FOR THE POWER OF MOMENTS:

"I read this cover to cover and learned something new on each page. Beautifully written, brilliantly researched—I'm recommending it to everyone I know!"—Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit

“The most interesting, immediately actionable book I’ve read in quite a while. I walked away with new ideas for motivating employees, delighting customers, engaging students, and even planning family vacations. If life is a series of moments, the Heath brothers have transformed how I plan to spend mine.”—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take, Originals, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg

“A sincere introduction to how readers can shape and improve the peaks in their own experiences. Infused with positivity and enthusiasm . . . Readers hungry for a bigger slice of life will find this book valuable. Heuristic advice and life-affirming direction form a gratifying combination in this motivational handbook.” —Kirkus

“This terrific book is bursting with practical insights and memorable stories on every page. It's as relevant to product designers and meeting planners as it is to teachers and parents. I've already put many of its novel suggestions to work. Don't miss it.”—Eric Ries, author of bestselling author of The Lean Startup, The Startup Way

"Flat out amazing."—Jake Knapp, New York Times bestselling author of Sprint

Library Journal

03/06/2020

Heath (Duke Univ. CASE Knowledge Ctr.), who has coauthored four books with his brother Chip Heath, e.g., 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.—Carol Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater Libs.

AUGUST 2020 - AudioFile

Author Dan Heath’s narration of this absorbing audiobook sounds as smooth and self-assured as his writing. He’s mastered the art of creating spellbinding narratives and questions, followed by fascinating research summaries and well-organized insights. With the sound of his youthful engagement in full song from start to finish, Heath explains how individuals and institutions can become less reactive to problems and more focused on anticipating their causes and preventing them. Heath’s examples are wide ranging—from social problems like school dropout rates to management, health, and interpersonal dilemmas. While many of the challenges he describes are familiar and the solutions self-evident, the audio as a whole has a curious power that will inspire listeners to become more proactive about life's large and small problems. T.W. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2019-12-22
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 end—and 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 it—not 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.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173874429
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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