DR. THOMAS D. ZWEIFEL

Gorilla in the Cockpit: Breaking the Hidden Patterns of Project Failure and the System for Success

Whether you lead a company, a project or your life, Gorilla in the Cockpit is a smart investment.
—Scott A. Snook, Professor, Harvard Business School

Open the Megaproject Black Box and Avoid Billion-Dollar Disasters

Despite decades of analysis, thousands of reports, myriad methodologies, and countless experts, major and megaprojects (those over $1 billion) and change initiatives keep failing, Why?

Gorilla in the Cockpit offers a revolutionary way to understand megaproject failures. It opens the Black Box to reveal the hidden drivers of project crashes. The root causes cannot be found in traditional project management books. They are neither technical nor financial. They are human.

Highly valuable for our executive board and 150 direct reports in transforming the mindset, communication, and strategic outlook in a way that led to real-world results.
—Wolfgang Pitz, CEO, SpaceTech; ex-Space Program Manager, Airbus Defense & Space

Gorilla in the Cockpit doesn't stop at diagnostics and explanations. It offers a solution based on the latest discoveries in neuroscience, psycholinguistics, and behavioral economics, with practical application to real-life projects. Its systematic framework encompasses all steps of leading and managing megaprojects, from design to procurement, stakeholder management to execution, and handover to sustainability.

Learn how to:

• Challenge how you see, approach, and lead megaprojects—and massive change programs in your organizations.
• Expose the hidden human patterns that destroy billions (and trillions) of shareholder value and taxpayer money each year.
• Show a revolutionary way of understanding what happens in the project Black Box and why this drives 65% failure rates.
• Explode the myth that major project failure is inevitable.
• De-Risk your project flight path and boost your project success rate.

Gorilla in the Cockpit is a rare look behind the scenes of megaprojects by two seasoned experts. If you want to understand what really goes on in big projects, why they fail so often and what it takes for them to succeed, this book is a must-read.
—Bent Flyvbjerg, professor at Oxford and Copenhagen, principal author of How Big Things Get Done and Megaprojects and Risk.

Anti-Crash: The 5-Part System for De-Risking and Winning in a VUCA World 

In the current volatility, do you feel sometimes no matter how hard you work, success eludes you—and you might even crash? This quick read by ex CEO, leadership professor and award-winning author Dr. Thomas D. Zweifel shows you a simple and systematic, practical and proven 5-step roadmap for de-risking your life and building a brilliant future. You deserve success. Learn from the best.

"Dr. Zweifel ... is a man who deserves a title that is all too often bestowed without merit, but in his case it is truly deserved: miracle worker."
—David Searby, Program Officer, U.S. State Department

It's a VUCA World out there: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity. In these stormy, treacherous waters, it's perhaps more difficult than ever before to lead and manage your life, your job, your family, your organization, your society. Inflation and money troubles. Wars and energy shortages. Pandemics and climate pressures. Fake news and information overload. How can we keep from crashing?

The Anti-Crash method was developed by Dr. Thomas D. Zweifel, ex CEO and multiple board member, Columbia leadership professor emeritus and award-winning author of 10 strategy and leadership books. Zweifel's 5-step system has been used by CEOs and CXOs at 40 Fortune 500 companies, presidents and government officials, military officers and entrepreneurs. 3,000+ clients and students of Dr. Zweifel in 100+ countries have applied his system to take charge, navigate a volatile world, and lead their people and their lives to success.

"Thank you so much—you've helped me change my life."
—Judd Maltin, Systems Senior Engineer, Dell

Zweifel provides a fool-proof 5-step methodology for getting things done, minimizing risk, and building professional and personal success. Thousands of Zweifel's clients and students apply this practical toolbox to enhance their freedom, power, and peace of mind.

"I became more organized, set my weekly and monthly priorities which resulted in much more productivity... Several coworkers commented on my progress these past two months and said things like, 'You're really on top of things these days."
—Lisa Grattan, Chairman, Women's Tennis Benefit Association

What you'll learn:

• Why Would Churchill Fail Today?
• Leadership-In-Action: A Lab
• Life's a Box of Chocolates? No, a Chatterbox
• IDK, LY & TTYL: Communication in the New Media
• The World Is Not a Clock
• Why Wars (& Lawsuits & Divorces) Break Out. Five Deadly Sins
• Roadmap to Success: The Global Leader Pyramid®
• Level 1: Self-Leadership ("Why?")
• Level 2: The Trust Factor (“Who?”)
• Level 3: Futuring (“What?”)
• Level 4: Opportunity & Irresistibility (“How?”)
• Level 5: From Breakdown to Breakthrough (“When?”)
• The Global Leader Pyramid® as Diagnostic & Anti-Crash Tool

"I wish I'd had Zweifel's tools 35 years ago, when I was starting out."
—Werner Brandmayr, President, ConocoPhillips Europe