F.I.R.E.

How Fast, Inexpensive, Restrained, and Elegant Methods Ignite Innovation

HarperBusiness, 2014

15 min read

10 take-aways

Audio & text

What's inside?

To achieve true project management success, use a skeleton crew, spend less and work fast.

1×

Editorial Rating

Qualities

Applicable
Well Structured
Engaging

Recommendation

Project management pro and military technology expert Dan Ward spices up his informative writing with wonderful asides and management war stories. He writes in accordance with his principles: Ward’s prose is straightforward, lacking in ornamentation and clear. He advocates a simpler-is-better approach to all projects and urges managers to use less money, fewer people and shorter time frames in pursuit of less complex goals. He spices up his informative writing with spark-plug references, including Star Trek, steampunk, Superman, the Death Star, the “Tonto, Frankenstein and Tarzan School of Public Speaking,” and more. getAbstract recommends Ward’s readable, commonsense, no-nonsense, counterintuitive principles of project management to executives, managers, business owners and students, and promises you will laugh as you learn.

Summary

More P-51s, Please

In 1942, during World War II, Colonel Homer L. “Tex” Sanders, commander of the 51^st Fighter Group of the US Army Air Corps, wrote his superior officer to request more P-51 Mustang fighter planes. Sanders explained that he and his fighter pilots loved the P-51 Mustang because it had “perfect handling qualities.” He stated that the P-51 outperformed all other US fighters in “speed, range and maneuverability.” Sanders’s assessment was right. During World War II, P-51s flew 213,800 combat missions, and US pilots flew them for 35 years after World War II. During its many years of service, the P-51 proved that it was the “premier fighter of its age.”

Before they become operational, many aircrafts require years of design and prototyping, plus the concentrated work and specialized expertise of thousands of engineers and other professionals. Modern aircraft often take decades to develop. In contrast, a small team spent just a few months creating the P-51 prototype. Sanders admiringly described it as “an extremely simple” aircraft. “He liked the P-51 because its ‘engines, guns, radios, instruments’ and other parts are the same as those used on the...

About the Author

A low-cost innovation specialist, engineer Dan Ward is a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force. He plans and develops military equipment.

Comment on this summary

Sign in to share your opinion
G. W. 9 years ago

On screen note says the summary was sent to my kindle, but I can't find it.
- 9 years ago
  
  Hello Gary,
  
  We apologize for the inconvenience you are experiencing. Please be advised I have sent you the "How To" instructions for setting up getAbstract with your kindle. This email has been sent to your email address we have on file.
  
  Please let me know if I can further assist you.
  
  Your getAbstract Team
P. B. getAbstract 10 years ago

Good read!
J. W. 10 years ago

Loved the point about embracing "storm draining"!

Dan Ward