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The Four Workarounds: Strategies from the World's Scrappiest Organizations for Tackling Complex Problems - Paperback | Diverse Reads

The Four Workarounds: Strategies from the World's Scrappiest Organizations for Tackling Complex Problems

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FINANCIAL TIMES' BEST SUMMER BOOKS OF 2023
"Groundbreaking" —Next Big Idea Club

"This book helps us live happier, successful, and more fulfilling lives." —Jenn Lim, CEO and cofounder of Delivering Happiness, and bestselling author of Beyond Happiness

We constantly encounter complex problems at home, in our places of work, and in society at large. Even if we had all the time and money in the world, sometimes no good solution can be found. So, what should we do, especially when we can’t wait? The answer: a workaround.

For ages, global corporations have been lecturing small organizations and not-for-profits on how to get things done. As it turns out, it should have been the other way around. In this groundbreaking book, award-winning researcher Paulo Savaget shows how the most valuable lessons about problem-solving can be learned from the scrappiest groups.

Savaget draws most of his examples from small organizations dedicated to social action that have made an art form out of subverting the status quo and have proved themselves adept at achieving massive wins with minimal resources. Through his research, Savaget identified the four workarounds that these groups commonly employ: the piggyback, the loophole, the roundabout, and the next best. With vivid and fascinating examples from his life and travels, he demonstrates how each one works and how to know which one to use when.

The Four Workarounds shows how seemingly intractable problems—from public urination to the challenges of delivering lifesaving medicine to remote communities—were addressed using unconventional tactics. Some of the world’s biggest and most admired companies are already using Savaget’s research to transform the ways they do business. And these same lessons can also revolutionize the ways we approach the challenges we all encounter every day of our lives.

ISBN-13: 9781250827081

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Publication Date: 03-05-2024

Pages: 304

Product Dimensions: 8.25h x 5.38w x 1.00d

PAULO SAVAGET is associate professor at Oxford University’s Engineering Sciences Department and the Saïd Business School. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar and has a background working as a lecturer, consultant, entrepreneur, and researcher finding innovative solutions for a more inclusive world. As a consultant, he worked on projects for large companies, non-profits, and government agencies in Latin America, and the OECD. He currently resides in Oxford.

Table of Contents

Author’s Note
Introduction

Part I: The Workarounds
1. The Piggyback
2. The Loophole
3. The Roundabout
4. The Next Best

Part II: Using Workarounds
5. The Workaround Attitude
6. The Workaround Mindset
7. The Workaround Building Blocks
8. Workarounds in Your Organization

Coda: Workarounds Outside of Work
Acknowledgments
Notes