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    Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen
    Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen
    Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen
    Audiobook7 hours

    Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen

    Written by Dan Heath

    Narrated by Dan Heath

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    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?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateMar 3, 2020
    ISBN9781797100562
    Author

    Dan Heath

    Dan Heath and his brother, Chip, have written four New York Times bestselling books: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive, and The Power of Moments. Heath is a senior fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports entrepreneurs fighting for social good. He lives in Durham, North Carolina. The Heath brothers’ books have sold more than three million copies worldwide and have been translated into thirty-three languages.

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    Reviews for Upstream

    4.5/5

    131 ratings7 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Brilliant! Encouraging for work, personal, and life. I think if everyone read this book our world would be in such a better place.
    • 5/5
      It doesn't matter what you do for a living or where you are in your life!

      This will make you think differently about problems!
    • 5/5
      A great book, inspiring to make system changes to prevent problems instead of reacting to the consequences.
    • 5/5
      Great insights and real world examples to learn from.
    • 1/5
      The book itself is probably great but this audio recording is messed up or the app is.
    • 5/5
      This book receives without a doubt a "masterpiece" rating from me. Everything about it was well thought out and informative. The research, the stories, the writing, everything was good... This book is a must read/listen for anyone. I thank the author for putting the effort in creating such a masterpiece.
    • 5/5
      A book that made me think. I will recommend this book as it was to me. This writing is one that you must really do a deep dive into; take notes. You will learn a great deal about how you may lead and make changes in the world around you.