"Reinventing Project Management," a book co-authored by Stevens Institute of Technology's Professor Aaron J. Shenhar with Professor Dov Dvir, published recently by Harvard Business School Press, has been named among the "Five Best Business Books of 2007".

The top-five list appeared in December via the online technology newsletter, Shop Talk: Innovation, Marketing and Alliances. The list was compiled and published by John Caddell, the founder and principal of Caddell Insight Group, a consulting firm focused on using business narrative, launching new products and businesses, and negotiating alliances. A recognized expert in telecommunications, outsourcing and enterprise software, he has more than 20 years experience in high-tech product development, operations and marketing.

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According to Caddell (pictured), “If you've worked on more than a handful of projects in your business career, you are familiar with failure. Lots of projects simply don’t work right: some are abandoned before they’re complete, others don’t meet expectations, others finish but are so agonizing that they burn out teams and managers both.”

“‘Reinventing Project Management’ dissects the topic in great detail,” he added. “It’s a refreshing look at project management, not least because [the authors] focus less on the discipline of work breakdown structures and task dependencies and more on what different projects try to achieve and how methodologies and management approach must adapt to the needs of the project.”

Other books cited in the list included “The Future of Management,” by Gary Hamel; “Negotiation Genius,” by Deepak Malhotra and Max Bazerman; and “X-Teams,” by Deborah Ancona and Henrik Bresman.

Dr. Aaron J. Shenhar is the institute professor of management and founder of the project management program at Stevens Institute of Technology. He holds degrees in engineering and management from Stanford University and the Technion in Israel. He is a recipient of the Engineering Manager of the Year Award of IEEE, and the PMI Research Achievement Award. Professor Dov Dvir is the head of the Management Department at Ben Gurion University in Israel.

Founded in 1870 and based in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with about 400 full-time faculty. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.

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The first professional paper ever presented at an event sponsored by the Project Management Institute (PMI®) has been republished in the January 2008 edition of the online eJournal PM World Today. The paper, entitled “Planning, Scheduling and Controlling the Efforts of Knowledge Workers”, was originally authored and presented by Russell Archibald, PhD, at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on October 9, 1969. The paper can be viewed at http://www.pmworldtoday.net/second_edition/2008/jan.htm.

The Atlanta event was the first conference ever sponsored by or held in the name of the Project Management Institute (PMI®). In addition, it was the first paper presented that day, making this the first paper ever presented or published for or by PMI. Amazingly, it is just as relevant today as it was in 1969, the year that PMI was founded.

According to Mr. Archibald (pictured), “James E. Kelly, who spoke after me on Oct. 9, 1969, was none other than THE Jim Kelly of Kelly and Walker fame, credited with being the inventors together with John W. Mauchly of the Critical Path Method. We had some very smart people together at that meeting, both on the podium and in the audience.”

“If I remember correctly,” he added, “PMI’s incorporation documents were signed the next day. Unfortunately I had to fly to Brazil to begin a project management course for Petrobras, so I missed being recognized as a PMI founder by a day and a few unavoidable circumstances. I had participated in earlier meetings with PMI Founders Eric Jenett and Jim Snyder that led to the formation of PMI, and was one of the five founding trustees of PMI prior to its formal incorporation.”

Russell Archibald, PhD (Hon), PMP, PMI Fellow, is a globally-recognized author, consultant and lecturer on project management. With a career spanning more than 50 years, Russ has broad international experience in engineering, operations, program and project management. He is a Fellow and Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) – member No. 6 -- of the Project Management Institute (PMI®). Russ is also an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Project Management (APM) in the UK, and is listed in Who's Who in the World. Russ is the author of the best selling book, Managing High Technology Programs and Projects (3rd edition 2003) (also published in Italian, Russian, and Chinese) and co-author of Network Based Management Information Systems (PERT/CPM) (1967), one of the earliest books in the project management literature.

Russ Archibald has presented many articles and papers over the years at PMI and International Project Management Association (IPMA) conferences in North America, South America, and Europe, and is widely published in periodicals on professional project management. He holds Bachelor of Science (University of Missouri) and Master of Science (University of Texas, Austin) degrees in Mechanical Engineering. As a pioneer in the field, Russ received an honorary Ph.D. in strategy, program, and project management from the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Lille (ESC-Lille) in Lille, France in August 2005. Currently residing in Mexico, Russ Archibald’s personal website can be found at www.russarchibald.com, and he can be contacted at Russell_archibald@yahoo.com. The paper has been republished in PM World Today with the approval and permission of Dr. Russ Archibald. It can be found in the January 2008 edition at www.pmworldtoday.net.

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RMC Publications, the publishing arm of RMC Project Management, has announced that Jerry Manas' highly anticipated leadership guide Managing the Gray Areas, Essential Insights for Leading People, Projects and Organizations has been released. The book, officially released on January 15th, examines the perils of black and white thinking, and offers valuable tools for making better decisions from broader perspectives. It supports these themes with insights from today's business leaders as well as sources from the fields of philosophy, science, history, and more.

Jerry Manas, a highly visible contributor in general management and project management circles, regularly provides leadership and project management consulting to Fortune 500 companies across the globe. He helped lead over 400 volunteers in the creation of the Project Management Institute's global standards for Program and Portfolio Management, and also contributed to the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3). As one of the most popular and creative authors and speakers in the leadership space, Manas' first book, Napoleon on Project Management (Nelson Business, April of 2006), has been a huge success within project management and general management circles.

RMC Publications placed an initial order for 5,000 printed copies of Managing the Gray Areas, but readers quickly snapped up much of the first print run during the preorder period in late December and early January. "Although orders slowed just a bit at times, early on we were averaging nearly one preorder per minute," Eric Rudolf of RMC Publications noted. "And we have yet to really get into the heart of our promotional efforts now that the book is released."

Rudolf also mentioned that RMC Publications is in discussions with a number of other experts and published authors, and hopes to make at least one more major signing by the end of the year.

Parties interested in reviewing the Table of Contents for Managing the Gray Areas, or placing an order at a significant discount from List Price may visit the RMC Website at www.rmcproject.com for more information. Authors looking to make a book submission to RMC Publications are encouraged to contact Eric Rudolf directly, using the contact information attached to this release.

Founded in 2001, RMC Publications is one the largest publishers of project management titles, resources and ancillary products in the world. In addition to traditional books, the company offers value-added project management resources like software, audio books, flash cards and desktop calendars. RMC Publications works directly with such innovative, knowledgeable and best-selling authors as Rita Mulcahy (PM Crash Course™, PMP® Exam Prep, CAPM® Exam Prep, Risk Management Tricks of the Trade® for Project Managers), Jerry Manas (Napoleon on Project Management, Managing the Gray Areas) and several others. For more information, visit www.rmcproject.com.

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Management Concepts has announces the publication of Managing Politics and Conflict in Projects, a new book for project managers by Brian Irwin, PMP. Managing Politics and Conflict in Projects is an easy-to-read, no-nonsense guide explaining the “soft” issues of project management, including communicating, negotiating, and influencing skills that are vital to project success. Readers will understand an organization’s political climate and culture to ascend the corporate ladder, and learn how to deal with political issues—which require complex organizational and interpersonal skills.

Managing Politics and Conflict in Projects provides valuable review points, tips, and a fictional narrative illustrating the book’s main points, including: leadership, interpersonal, and communications skills; negotiating organizational political environments; utilizing politics and conflict; recognizing and interpreting the barriers of communication; negotiating; and overcoming cultural challenges.

Brian Irwin, MSM, PMP, has more than 15 years of project experience in diverse industries including personal computers, engineering, information technology, aerospace, and defense. He is currently the president of PM Team Dynamics, a project management consulting firm specializing in project audits, troubled project assessment and recovery, and project startup facilitation. Mr. Irwin holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science in Management with a specialization in Project Management from Colorado Technical University in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Managing Politics and Conflict in Projects, 2008, 210 pages, softcover, published by Management Concepts, Vienna, VA, 978-1-56726-221-6 $29. This book is available from your local bookstore or directly from Management Concepts at www.managementconcepts.com.cepts.com.

Management Concepts, Inc., is an integrated training, consulting, and publishing company dedicated to the mind at work—from entry level to executive leaders. For more information, visit www.managementconcepts.com.

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Max Wideman has announced the latest updates to his popular project management website. According to the email from Max this month, here are the items that Max discusses or has added to his website this month.

Max has added an extra Paper this month, a review of Bolles and Hubbard's book: Power of Enterprise-wide Project Management which, according to Max, speaks for itself. Max also continue “Ten Steps to Project Portfolio Management” with Part 6, tips on Steps 8 & 9 covering “Activating the Work and Reporting.”

Max’s Guest this month is Capt. Steven Lucks (Ret.) with a Good News from Iraq project: building a data center in a war zone.

Musings this month is about conducting a PRE-mortem. Is this something new or Old Wine in New Bottles?

Have you ever had to establish a project information system from scratch? Or bring a team member into line? If so, the following new Issacons should help.

• 1432d - Holding difficult conversations,

• 1218c - Project Management Information Strategy

New forms :

• 1218b - Deliverables Register,

• 1218c - Deliverables Acceptance Form.

The following Issacons* have been updated:

*"Issacons" stands for "Issues and Considerations" that are presented in bullet form for quick and easy reference by project managers.

Have you seen Max’s book
A Management Framework for Project, Program and Portfolio Integration?
For information or to order a copy, visit http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/framework_book/intro.htm.

Do you have a project management question?
Find the answer at: http://www.maxwideman.com.

 

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