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

by Dan Ward

FIRE is noted military technology expert Dan Ward's manifesto for creating great products and projects using the methods of rapid innovation

Why do some programs deliver their product under cost, while others bust their budget? Why do some deliver ahead of schedule, while others experience endless delays? Which products work better-the quick and thrifty or the slow and expensive? Which situation leads to superior equipment?

With nearly two decades as an engineering officer in the U. S. Air Force, Dan Ward explored these questions during tours of duty at military research laboratories, the Air Force Institute of Technology, an intelligence agency, the Pentagon and Afghanistan. The pattern he noticed revealed that the most successful project leaders in both the public and private sectors delivered top-shelf products with a skeleton crew, a shoestring budget, and a cannonball schedule. Excessive investment of time, money or complexity actually reduced innovation. He concluded the secret to innovation is to be fast, inexpensive, simple, and small.

FIRE presents an entertaining and practical framework for pursuing rapid, frugal innovation. A story-filled blend of pop culture and engineering insight, FIRE has something for everyone: strategic concepts leaders can use as they cast a vision, actionable principles for managers as they make business decisions, and practical tools for workers as they design, build, assess and test new products. Plus, there's a funny story about buying a dishwasher.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help, Management, Design, Startup, Productivity

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 29, 2014

Reviews

[Juliette II · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan Ward says all the things I hold dear, but he’s funnier and has better examples. I loved this book so much I read it slowly (ironic) to process all the goodness. It’s very handy when someone writes a book encapsulating your definitely correct philosophy on project management. This book emboldens me to be an even bigger pain in the ass. Will be required reading for any team I run in the future. Many of you reading this will likely get it as a gift. The lessons are simple and the examples memorable, but it amazes me daily how much we don’t put these practices to work. An absolute must read for anyone who simply wants to do things better.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ward worked as an engineering officer of the U.S. Air Force and studied project management. He provides examples from the Depart of Defense and NASA about managing large and expensive projects.

Why I started this book: Short audio, and a great book to slip in my reading list and cross off my Professional Reading title.

Why I finished it: Loved the idea that you shouldn't have to pick two from the option of fast, cheap and quick. Very entertaining and a good reminder that delays build upon each other and suck dry the budget.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Ward is a USAF LtCol and acquisition professional, so he knows the world of RDT&E very well. This book is a synthesis of his thoughts on acquisition, some previously discussed in Armed Forces Journal and other DoD publications, and further research done at AFIT. Well-written and brief, F.I.R.E. could well lead to more heated discussions among innovators and program managers than anything I have read in years.

If you believe getting to a good enough solution quickly has great value, you'll love his narrative.

If you value repeatable process, tight oversight, and process compliance, this document is anathema.

If you hate incomprehensible PowerPoint, you'll find a kindred spirit.

If you are committed to bigger and more complicated is better, reading this will likely give you a coronary.

Automatically kill a program when estimated cost at completion exceeds 115% of initial estimate?

And so forth. Great discussion of NASA's Faster Better Cheaper series of missions.

For me he's about 90% correct, ignoring his abysmal judgment placing Firefly above Battlestar Galactica in scifi importance hierarchy.

At heart he puts greatest value on having a small, core group of people work toward a clear solution on a tight timeline as the kernel for program success – and there he is right on the money.

[Peter Rooijmans]

A fun little book with sound advice on approaching projects. In order to get to results effectively and efficiently, set clear and concise goals and especially limits and then stick to those. For some reason it seems, that especially government bureaucracies tend to fall for the trap of setting unrealistic goals ('this project will solve evertything for everybody from tomorrow until kingom comes') combined with record-sized budgets. This dynamic might well be driven in some part by the ego-enhancing effect of being part or even deciding on such projects. And then there is of course always industry on the contract-receiving end, which has a big stake in getting access to the moneyflow. For large projects it often takes considerable time, before failure becomes clear, or is admitted, The tale of the emperor without clothes is of all times.

[Du · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting book about the FIRE method coined by the author Dan Ward. Based on Ward's experiences in the US military, Ward presents the Fast, Inexpensive, Restrained and Elegant method to help with projects. He uses plenty of examples from the US military and from NASA which used a different acronym FBC to illustrate the same kind of mindset.
The mindset itself is not that different from an Agile mindset as known from software engineering so there's a lot of overlap with the Agile methodology except FIRE is very generic and is a list of heuristics to help achieve great project outcomes.
Ward writes quite clearly and the entire book is quite short which is nice as many book like this are usually 300+ pages long with less content than this. In this sense you might argue that the book follows the same FIRE principles. The writing however is very uneven and the last part of the book has Ward switching to a very different writing style - from restrained and informational to jokey and casual. It's a bit weird to read and adds a bit of confusion.

Overall it's a pretty cool book with interesting ideas that are found in many other places. The particular focus on military and NASA projects are interesting.

[Amrit · Rating 4 out of 5]

FIRE is a book for project managers and people in leadership positions that outlines four core principles for a successful project – fast, inexpensive, restrained and elegant. ‘Fast’ is doing quality work on short timeline, no cutting corners, no haste, going in right direction, ‘Inexpensive’ is about setting cost ceiling, not about making a cheap solution, ‘Restrained’ means self-control in all other principles and ‘Elegant’ is making things simple.

Personally, I found these principles as a good refresher. I had heard or read about these on a piecemeal basis and it was good to discover these principles also working for most complicated projects as in defence. I also found FIRE principles to be close to Agile manifesto, especially around smaller teams and short-term planning.

[Koen Wellens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so happy that I read this book. It’s awesome. A lot of what it’s about is common sense, but it’s written down for you. If you think Ward is misguided, he slams you in the face with a story that shows otherwise. Multiple stories even. Dan Ward explains his stuff in a very original and sometimes funny way.

Read the full review at my blog.

[Suzette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book’s approach is what companies probably envision as the outcome when they implement Agile. If you work, regardless of what you do, there are lessons to be learnt from this book - even if it is just in the way you approach your work, and to understand the natural progrssion to something exceptional. Loved it, and this will be an annual re-read.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthwhile review of why simplicity over complexity is often the better path to innovation. I just wish the author took some more of his advice and cut some of the chatter that bulked up the books volume by about 15% without adding much value.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timeless and straightforward principles for how projects and initiatives ought to work. Occasionally a bit self-indulgent overdrawn in explanation, especially if one is already familiar with FIRE-like environments, but that doesn't detract from the core ideas.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of real world examples of why this concept is so important not to forget.

[Jason Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was fortunate enough to get a copy from the author. Read this as part of a book club for work and I think it has some great ideas on how we can treat constraints as accelerators.

[Kevin Comer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads very much like a pet project, with a series of just-so stories that help to illustrate his principles – fast, inexpensive, restrained, and elegant. I think one of the few good take-aways in this book is warning against "scope-creep" in a project - making a tool that does half the job for a tenth of the cost is five times better. This is a useful principle to emulate. Most other elements in this book are difficult to cultivate and emulate and can only be described in hindsight.

[Alex Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Effective innovation is about focusing energy and resources on your most important tasks. You need to work fast, keep your project inexpensive and stay on track by restraining your budget and time frame. Aim to produce something elegant, not something overly complex. When you streamline your efforts with the F.I.R.E. method, you won’t just finish your project on time, you’ll produce something of higher quality, too.

[Jessica V · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author’s viewpoint on government acquisition ideals — field it fast and make necessary adjustments/upgrades quickly — were well considered. The examples used to when acquisitions were on-boarded quickly and on budget were powerful, especially NASA’s COTS program.

The nerdy references were a distraction. The audience for this book is small.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dan Ward's FIRE is a good reminder that problems are best solved with focus...and other things are simply distractions. The author missed an opportunity to practice what he preaches: the nearly 230 page book could have been a pamphlet.

[Toshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple set of principles to do development and innovation fast, inexpensive, restrained and elegantly. Maybe they sound simple because I've been already in quite agreement with the author. They are the absolute necessary to be LEAN. Very good book. Highly recommended to my colleagues and managers.

[Ammon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for the audiobook version of FIRE: How Fast, Inexpensive, Restrained, and Elegant Methods Ignite Innovation. I’m fascinated by business books about the art and/or science of innovation. While not as entertaining as Creativity, Inc., by Ed Catmull, FIRE is an above average attempt at how businesses and individuals can follow a set of processes to not just get on time, on scope, on budget, but to get faster, better, cheaper. This is more of a 3.5 stars to be honest, but there was good stuff here that I may have to revisit the book later.

Drawing on his experience in the military, Ward, does a fine job making the material understandable and applicable. Before reading (listening) I didn’t equate the military with innovation or innovative processes, but Ward shows example after example of some of their finer achievements in modern years.

The narrator, David Loving, was just OK. I didn’t love him, I didn’t hate him. I almost wish that it had been read by someone like “The Gunny”, R. Lee Erney (Drill Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket).

***Full Disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review