Big Bets, Rajiv Shah
Big Bets, Rajiv Shah
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Big Bets
How Large-Scale Change Really Happens

Author: Rajiv Shah

Narrator: Rajiv Shah

Unabridged: 7 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/10/2023


Synopsis

“Encouraging…Uplifting...Meeting apparently insurmountable goals requires thinking big…this will inspire.” —Publishers Weekly

“Raj Shah has written a practical guide to making the world a better place. He knows what he’s talking about, because he’s done it himself. Anyone who wants to make a change in the world, or their own lives, will benefit from this book.” —Bill Gates, Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Rajiv J. Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation and former administrator of President Barack Obama’s United States Agency for International Development, shares a dynamic new model for creating large scale change, inspired by his own involvements with some of the largest humanitarian projects of our time.

Rajiv J. Shah is no stranger to pulling off the impossible, from helping vaccinate 900 million children at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to a high-pressure race against the clock to stop the spread of Ebola. His secret? A big bets philosophy—the idea that seeking to solve problems rather than make incremental improvements can attract the unlikely partners with the power and know-how to achieve transformational change. Part career sweeping memoir, part inspirational playbook, Big Bets offers a master class in decision-making, leadership, and changing the world one bet at a time.

Shah animates his strategic insights with vivid behind-the-scenes stories, memorable conversations with household names that helped shape his approach to creating change, and his own personal growth as an Indian-American from an immigrant family looking for a way to belong. He distills his battle-tested strategies for creating change, arguing that big bets have a surprising advantage over cautious ones: a bold vision can attract support, collaborations, and fresh ideas from key players who might otherwise be resistant. Throughout the book, Shah traces his unlikely path to the Rockefeller Foundation across a changing world and through some of the most ambitious, dramatic global efforts to create a better world.

About Rajiv Shah

Dr. Rajiv J. Shah serves as president of the Rockefeller Foundation, a global institution with a mission to promote the well-being of humanity around the world. With a century-long track record of leveraging science, technology, and innovation, The Foundation is pioneering new ways to enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. Dr. Shah is a graduate of the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and the Wharton School. He has received several honorary degrees, the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award, and the US Global Leadership Award. He is married to Shivam Mallick Shah, and they have three children.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Josh

Rajiv Shah's Big Bets is an inspiring book about how to make large-scale change happen. Shah argues that big bets have a surprising advantage over cautious ones: a bold vision can attract support, collaborations, and fresh ideas from key players who might otherwise be resistant. Shah distills his bat......more

Goodreads review by Rinku

I found the bullet points at the end each chapter to be extremely helpful in understanding the examples that were in the chapters. It does seem hilarious at times to even think about trying to apply some of these tips to an ordinary person like myself. I mean the examples were all movers an shakers......more

Goodreads review by Sophia

Felt like an egoist's diary.......more

Goodreads review by Eric

Yes we (still) can do great things It’s pretty unfashionable in elite circles to think we can still engage in large-scale social projects. The right is reflexively anti-government and the left thinks that the public sector is the only tool to achieve positive change. Raj Shah embraces an optimistic v......more

Goodreads review by Pat

On the surface, the premise of this book appears to be one of giving advice: as Shah incessantly repeats, real, tangible change is often the product of big bets. As Shah illustrates with chapter-by-chapter descriptions of complex, global problems that he has faced, much of the beneficial change he h......more