"Upstream Thinking" Author: [US] Dan Heath Publisher: CITIC Publishing Group

Introduction

Upstream thinking is a preventive thinking. In contrast, downstream thinking is a passive response to problems, which only treats the symptoms but not the root cause.

Author Dan Heath suggests that most people are in the downstream area, exhausted from dealing with one problem after another but unable to get rid of it. We are too focused on the present and forget to go upstream to find the precise intervention point of the problem.

The book lists successful and failed cases of upstream actions, revealing three major thinking traps and seven successful strategies.

Three major thinking traps: ignoring problems, lack of responsibility and tunnel vision;

Seven strategies for success: unite the right people, change the system, find leverage, set up problem warnings, guard against false success, avoid secondary harm, and find people to pay the bill.

Upstream thinking is not only applicable to organizations, but can also be used to improve personal life. If you are often in a "fire-fighting" state, if you want to prepare for a rainy day instead of a rainy day, you might want to read this book.

About the Author

Dan Heath is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. He was a researcher at Harvard Business School and is currently a senior researcher at Duke University. He is one of the founders of Thinkwell , an innovative media education company. He and his brother Chip Heath have co-authored four books in the " Behavioral Design " series: "Creating Peak Experience", "Zero Cost Change", "Making Creativity Stickier", and "Mastering Key Decisions". The Heath brothers' books have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 33 languages.