Product Description
Projects are MESSY! From the minute the project begins, all manner of changes, surprises and disasters befall them. Unfortunately most of these are PREDICTABLE and AVOIDABLE. Tact and diplomacy can only get you so far in the wild and wacky world of project work. A combination of outrageous creativity, sheer bravado and nerves of steel will serve you far better than any fancy-schmancy Microsoft Project Gantt chart! ‘Scrappy Project Management’ is about what REAL… More >>
Scrappy Project Management: The 12 Predictable and Avoidable Pitfalls Every Project Faces
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RLZX4IRB1KT2D Projects are MESSY! From the minute the project begins, all manner of changes, surprises and disasters befall them. Unfortunately most of these are PREDICTABLE and AVOIDABLE. Tact and diplomacy can only get you so far in the wild and wacky world of project work. A combination of outrageous creativity, sheer bravado and nerves of steel will serve you far better than any fancy-schmancy Microsoft Project Gantt chart! Scrappy Project Management(tm) is about what REALLY happens in the project environment, how to survive it, and how to make sure that your team avoids the predictable and avoidable pitfalls that every project faces. There’s another video on YouTube that reveals the precarious last moments of the making of this book. Search for “Scrappy Project Management” and enjoy the nearly true-life account of the scrappy conclusion of the 3 year writing process.
Rating: 5 / 5
The book defined a set of pitfalls and never went below the highest levels on how to resolve any of them. Might be a good overview book but you won’t find any meat here.
Rating: 2 / 5
The Auther visits Japan often for seminars and other businesses. Getting to be well known there for effective project management methods.
Rating: 5 / 5
For anyone who is about to lead a major project at work or even something at home on their own, this is a must read! This no-nonsense approach goes right to the heart of getting a project done due to eliminating predictable pitfalls. Through various personal experiences, Kimberly has accomplished several goals with a results-oriented, “do whatever it takes” attitude. I consider her the Jack Bauer of project management! Along with her witty comments, this is a quick read with real action steps that anyone can follow (just make sure you have a lot of courage and heart!) Check it out!
Rating: 5 / 5
This book contains pearls of great wisdom and clarity, and I recommend it. The suggestions are specific, practical, and helpful. For example, make a simple project org chart. Your company has an org chart that shows who writes perf evals; ignore that, and write one that describes your project team. When I did, I was surprised, and it led me to realize that one member was over-loaded. Another specific suggestion is to create a list of your team’s top priorities and then post it in the bathroom. While I’m not going to do that, it makes the point about simplicity, clarity, and communication.
That captures the essence of this book: simple, practical suggestions that are obviously going to help.
Unfortunately, this great advice is buried under boring cliches about how today life is much tougher than it used to be. No doubt the team that dug the Panama canal took a margarita break every afternoon. In some places two or three pages in a row are pure waste, full of these silly cliches
Project management was hard, is hard, and will always be hard. A PM is expected to balance priorities and optimize within constraints. That’s the definition of the job, and it’s hard. Every PM in history sweated bullets.
The figures are a great addition. They are “scrappy”: funny, irreverent, and helpful.
The author’s experience seems to be based in the world of high-tech product development, but that hardly matters. The advice seems pretty universal.
Rating: 4 / 5