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Title: Project Planning and Implementation by Jim Keogh, Avraham Shtub, Jonathan F. Bard, Shlomo Globerson ISBN: 0536602425 Publisher: Pearson Custom Pub Pub. Date: December, 1999 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $56.00

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Average Customer Rating: 2.33

Rating: 1
Summary: If a KISS ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
Comment: I'm an avid consumer of strategy & tactic tomes & I found a great parallel between the messages the authors are attempting to impart in Project Management and Implementation (PMI) & the lessons taught by Karl Von Clauswitz in his On War. Granted, the language of Clausewitz is very dated--the mid 17th century vernacular translated from Prussian no less--& isn't the easiest read on the planet. Yet, Clauswitzes writing includes the necessary information, synthesis, application, & connected examples for illustrating the undertaking of a campaign or project. Indeed, I recommend On War to would-be managers over the Shtub et al offering. To my thinking, PMI serves as an excellent example of why lesson-teaching time-honoured classics like Clausewitz, Sun-Tzu, etc are time honoured & classic.

I'm unfortunately cursed w/PMI as the text for my Project Planning & Implementation class. I wonder if the faculty who decides what screeds are used for classes just really liked the book title. Then again, they might've just named the class after the book title.

Regardless of the decision process, clearly, Project Management (PM), as a subject is worthy of reading about for any would-be manager. However, this isn't the text or "how to" guide for novice managers. If new to PM, the only good thing to learn from PPI are a variety of Murphyesque maxims: Project work adjusts to the amount of time scheduled; If you're finishing on time then something's wrong, anything that can go wrong will, etc. Not bad advise to keep in mind, indeed, there's much value in copying these maxims onto 1 page & taping to the computer monitor-though one could just pull up a web page & print w/o going to the expense of buying this text-however, for those new to PM, that's about where useful & PPI depart. PPI reads like a technical manual: it doesn't integrate concepts discussed into the following chapters, loaded w/excessive jargon, contains too many acronyms, &, presents vague charts w/no explanations.

Furthermore, PPI is a general, although paradoxically, in-depth offering into PM. It isn't industry specific; yet, it overwhelms the reader. PPI is likely handy as a supplemental guide in conjunction w/a industry specific text on PM. For instance, Information Technology managers would do well w/a IT specific PM guide along w/this text. However, PPI is only useful if you've a working knowledge of PM & rank in around the intermediate level. Indeed, if one is new to PM, a better buy is Project Management in 10 minutes (PMiTM); novices needn't bother w/PPI unless they've a masochistic penchant. While not comprehensive, PMiTM supplies relevant information w/Plain English definitions to the brain damaging jargon. Certainly, PMiTM is deficient in the area of charts & diagrams, though, sometimes a picture isn't worth a single word, let alone a 1,000, as evidenced by PPI.

The chapters are presented in a logical sequence; yet, information from previous chapters isn't integrated into subjects covered in the following chapters. Ergo, the reader is forced to flip back & forth in an effort to understand exactly what's pertinent to the current reading. My copy is now so ragged from such activity it needs replacement.

There's no useful glossary, or "plain English" definitions of PM geek speak. Attempting to associate the myriad of terms w/actual concepts becomes an exercise in futility. Especially w/o real world applicable examples, yet, even w/said examples, the stifling nature of euphemisms & doubletalk weight so heavily as to cause a coma. Simply put, it all starts running together after a solid 15 minutes of reading--very similar to the 2nd week of trigonometry when all the textbook equation examples start resembling each other. Not-to-mention the reliance on alphabet soup, yup, the acronyms are so numerous one can't keep the RFP straight from the WSB. Indeed, one could write entire paragraphs in jargon, combined w/acronyms as the authors proved so well.

Charts, diagrams, & schematics oh joy. I can generally glean a degree of aid from illustrations; however, PMI keeps in vein w/its discombobulating style using eye numbing, & good for nothing drawings. For instance, the diagram accompanying Critical Path lacks any basis in reality. It's simply a Gantt chart w/the axis labelled & some blotchy grey boxes. One simply gets a quick description & then a picture of a chart; no practical understanding of why one would use such a beast, let alone a cogent example of a chart @ work.

All of the above could've been solved by easing the reader into the jargon & creating a master list of Frequently Used Terms or glossary, integrating the concepts of the jargon into relevant real world examples, complete charts illustrations, and then synthesising the applications into a coherent whole-system of thought.

Before concluding, PPI lost major points due the authors' reliance on a concept I detest: Stakeholders theory. Stakeholder theory--reference Edward R Freeman--has ostensibly become a catchall for anyone or anything remotely associated to a business. Ergo, one runs up against this insidious term whenever an author is unable or unwilling to qualify all parties via a proper title. Call a vendor a vendor, a customer a customer, etc. rather than relying on a model only 1 step shy of Fabian Socialism. Further, the word's a malapropism--mental or verbal--waiting to happen; the term is abused as shareholder or the reverse, shareholder becomes stakeholder.

Ultimately, the only good thing about PPI--for novices--is practical for keeping the maxims of Project management in the forefront of ones thoughts. Indeed, these dashes of wisdom are sprinkled throughout each chapter, & might assist to clarify an application to each chapter's concepts. For the savvier PM manager, the book is likely a good solid text to serve as a reference rather than a how-to implement a particular project, and I'll repeat that an industry specific PM guide is a must have in conjunction.

Truth be told, PPI could've been much better & served a greater purpose, however, its authors forgot another maxim: KISS.

Rating: 1
Summary: What is the CD-Rom
Comment: What CD Rom is included with this book? Is it one cd or 2

Rating: 5
Summary: Interesting
Comment: Very easy to read and a help during my Project planning course.