PM BOOK REVIEWS

Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management

Authors: Scott Berkun
Publisher: O’Reilly (USA)
List Price: US $39.99
Publication Date: 2008
ISBN: 978-0-596-51771-7
Reviewer: Donald Gubbins
Review Date: March 2009

Introduction to the Book

This project management book is an updated version previously published as “The Art of Project Management”. Scott Berkun is a veteran Microsoft Corporation project manager with experience leading teams developing products such as Internet Explorer, MSN, and Windows. The book addresses a wide variety of topics in a very engaging approach without requiring the reader to be familiar with project management concepts and jargon.

Overview of Book’s Structure

The paperback book is 392 pages long with 351 pages of narrative text. It is divided up into 16 chapters focusing on various project management topics, each approximately 15 to 25 pages long. The chapters are grouped into three parts; Plans, Skills, and Management. The book’s Forward emphasizes the perpetually important role of project management. The book ends with an Appendix (A Guide to Discussion Groups), an Annotated Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Photo Credits, and Index.

Overall, the book has a natural organization and flows to the ideas. Scott takes a top down approach to each topic by making some general points. Then he develops the ideas and frequently includes specific helpful pointers, simple techniques and tools, questions, and/or suggestions. Each chapter concludes with a bullet point summary of the main points. This is then followed 9 or 10 suggested exercises.

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About the Reviewer Donald J. Gubbins Donald Gubbins, MBA, PMP, is a long time Information Technology manager and is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) Central Ohio chapter. He earned both an MBA in Project Management and a Graduate Certificate of Project Management from the PMI certified project management program at the University of Texas. His most recent employment for the last nine years was at CBC Companies, Inc., where as an IT software applications manager he was responsible for ACAPS (a CGI-AMS software loan origination system) and MACS (a credit reporting system). In this role he led software projects for numerous banking and mortgage companies customers involving the three credit vendors; Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. His prior employment as a programmer/analyst includes JCPenney, Bank One, and Ohio State University Hospitals. Additionally, his resume includes seven years as a salaried employee of Cap Gemini performing consulting services in the insurance, retail, and utility industries. He can be contacted at dgubbins@columbus.rr.com.

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