Book Review: The Four Workarounds by Paulo Savaget

Paulo Savaget is a consultant and entrepreneur who specializes in teaching successful business solutions obtained from non-traditional strategies employed by atypical organizations and individuals. In his book, The Four Workarounds, he emphasizes the importance of concepts implemented in the Amazon more than those of corporate Amazon. Change makers are known for their hacks to sidestep challenging obstacles and Saveget’s book is an encyclopedia of successful workarounds from A-Z.

Why are we reading this book?

The Four Workarounds offers problem-solving lessons from the scrappiest groups – organizations that have achieved massive wins with minimal resources. Highlighting examples from his life and travels, Savaget gives a bird’s eye view of groups that have challenged the status quo in India, Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa with solutions that can be beneficial both personally and in business. He offers convincing discussions based upon the “innovative wit and practical ingenuity of feisty and resourceful entities.”

Backstory:

Savaget’s background is a “combined bundle of seemingly disconnected activities.” It was his work with nonprofits that initially kindled an interest in making “outsized impacts with unconventional methods.” What ignited his ongoing research of effective workarounds was the blockbuster story of cybercriminal Albert Gonzalez who hacked into NASA with meager resources and training. Savaget pursued the practical ingenuity of stories like this which have become the foundation of his teachings and consulting today.

Challenge:

The author describes workarounds as a “creative, flexible, imperfection-loving, problem-solving approach.” Based upon detailed studies of non-traditional solutions typically due to the lack of resources to pursue conventional approaches, Savaget explains in depth how business challenges can be solved with these four workarounds: the piggyback, the loophole, the roundabout and the next best repurposes. He provides an in-depth discussion of each.

Solution:

An example of how each workaround can be implemented.

• Piggyback – look for something that’s working, then pair it with a new goal – tapping Coca-Cola’s established shipping routes into remote regions, much-needed medications included with boxed bottles.
• Loophole – find ambiguity in the existing rules – in Brazil, ventilators for Covid-19 patients were transported faster by using a supermarket chain’s shipping arrangements with China to bypass governmental delays. 
• Roundabout – buying time to solve a bigger problem – social distancing was a workaround during the pandemic that bought time to develop vaccines and treatments.
• Next Best – repurpose available resources for non-traditional uses – travel adapters provide workable alternative to the unrealistic solution of negotiating and implementing an international standard.

Summary:

Flexibility is the foundation for working around complex problems. Brainstorming non-traditional ideas dislodges typical roadblocks such as, “but we’ve always done it this way.” Whether it’s figuring out a substitute for milk in your favorite cake recipe, getting reliable phone service in the rain forest or addressing infrastructure bottlenecks, The Four Workarounds is loaded with problem-solving ideas from the most unlikely sources. That’s what a workaround is all about.