Indeed if we can put a man on the moon getting big things done in government is a very well researched thought provoking piece on how government can turn novel ideas into real results the seven deadly traps framework that the authors innovatively develop and present resonates well with me as a mpa graduate and public sector consultant by training i truly appreciate authors new refreshing ways to depict and analyze complicated issues and stimulate provocative ideas. If we can put a man on the moon getting big things done in government william eggers and john oleary harvard business school press 2009 the american people are frustrated with their government dismayed by a series of high profile failures iraq katrina the financial meltdown yet our nation has a proud history of great achievements . One scholarly reviewer named if you can put a man on the moon the most important book on government since james q wilsons bureaucracy a view im close to seconding but wilsons project to explain why government organizations behave the way they do is not quite that of eggers and oleary who offer up a large measure of wise counsel to practitioners and interested citizens on why government mega projects either float or sink. If we can put a man on the moon getting big things done in government william d eggers and john oleary the requirements for achieving great things are two simple but far from easy steps wisely choosing which policies to pursue and then executing those policies the difference between success and failure is execution