I just finished Inside Coca-Cola by Neville Isdell. It's a business memoir about taking over Coca-Cola during a rough patch and turning it around. Operations, decision-making, managing at scale—exactly the kind of book I didn't realize I missed reading.

I picked it up because I was curious about systems and operations again. Turns out, a lot of what works for turning around a global company also works for building small projects on your own.

1. Clarity Before Speed

Isdell inherited a company that was moving fast but in too many directions. His first move? Stop, assess, decide what actually matters.

I do this with my classroom web app constantly. I want to add features, redesign the interface, make it "better." But the most useful question is: what problem am I actually solving right now?

Big companies and solo projects both suffer from the same issue—doing too much without clarity on what matters most.

The move: Before adding anything new, ask: does this solve the core problem, or am I just building because I can?

2. Small Fixes Compound

Isdell didn't fix Coca-Cola overnight. He made lots of small operational improvements—fixing broken processes, clarifying roles, improving communication. The turnaround was the sum of those fixes, not one big dramatic move.

Same with building apps. I don't ship a perfect product. I ship something functional, use it daily, notice what's broken, fix it. Repeat.

The classroom app started messy. But every day I use it, I catch something—a button that's hard to click on mobile, a feature that doesn't make sense. Fix it, move on.

The move: Ship it imperfect. Use it. Fix what breaks. Small fixes compound into something solid.

3. Decisions Need Deadlines

One thing Isdell emphasized: indecision kills momentum. Make the best decision you can with the information you have, then move.

I used to overthink everything. "Should I use this framework or that one?" "What if I need to change it later?" "What's the perfect tech stack?"

Now I set a deadline. Two hours to decide. Pick one, build with it. If it's wrong, I'll find out while building, not while thinking.

The move: Give yourself a decision deadline. Two hours, one day, whatever. Then commit and build.

4. Operations Thinking Works at Any Scale

The biggest takeaway: operations thinking isn't just for big companies. It's about systems, processes, identifying bottlenecks, making things run smoother.

I use this in teaching (how do I lesson plan faster without sacrificing feedback?), in building web apps (where do users get stuck?), in learning Korean (what's slowing down my progress?).

Operations isn't glamorous. It's not about vision or innovation. It's about: what's not working, and how do we fix it?

The move: Look at your work like an operations problem. Where's the friction? What's inefficient? Fix that first.

Why This Book Worked for Me

I forgot how much I enjoy reading about operations and systems. The pace, the problem-solving, the satisfaction of making things work better.

Reading about Coca-Cola's turnaround reminded me how exciting it still is to building useful things, figuring out how systems work, making stuff better for others.

That's the path I'm following now.

If you like operations, decision-making, and how things actually get fixed (not just big ideas), this book is worth reading.