Make Megaprojects More Modular

16 Pages Posted: 14 Dec 2021

See all articles by Bent Flyvbjerg

Bent Flyvbjerg

University of Oxford - Said Business School; IT University of Copenhagen; St Anne's College, University of Oxford

Date Written: October 19, 2021

Abstract

In conventional business and government megaprojects—such as hydroelectric dams, chemical-processing plants, or big-bang enterprise-resource-planning systems—the standard approach is to build something monolithic and customized. Such projects must be 100% complete before they can deliver benefits: Even when it’s 95% complete, a nuclear reactor is of no use. In this article, the author argues that two factors play a critical role in determining success or failure: modularity in design and speed in iteration. The article examines those factors by looking at well-known megaprojects, both successful ones and cautionary tales. It argues that "What's our LEGO?" is a key question for big projects. If you don't have a LEGO, you need to find one, or your project will be slow, expensive, and failure prone. If you have one, replicate and learn, over and over, to shorten delivery, bring down costs, and get to your revenues and benefits sooner.

Suggested Citation

Flyvbjerg, Bent, Make Megaprojects More Modular (October 19, 2021). Harvard Business Review, 2021, November-December Issue, pp. 58-63., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3937465

Bent Flyvbjerg (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Said Business School ( email )

Oxford
Great Britain

IT University of Copenhagen ( email )

Copenhagen
Denmark

St Anne's College, University of Oxford ( email )

Oxford
United Kingdom

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
4,570
Abstract Views
11,702
Rank
4,363
PlumX Metrics