Introduction

There are a small number of critical principles in managing projects, and a large number of accepted practices. This book presents all of the principles I am aware of, and as many of the accepted practices as I can cram in – applying the 80:20 principle along the way. The book is intentionally light on theory and heavy on basic things which need to be done to be effective.

Project management is not rocket science. In fact, it is often pretty boring and repetitious punctuated by occasional victories to keep us interested – which from my limited exposure to rocket science is actually what rocket science is really about. So I guess that although project management is not rocket science, it is still quite similar.

You can be a very good project manager if you do the things in this book consistently and creatively. Consistently follow the principles and apply the practices and you will do very well. Apply your creativity to improve on the practices and supplement the principles with new understandings and you can be an excellent project manager.

But remember, the better the job you do as a project manager, the less attention you will get. As a project manager any exposure is certainly not good exposure. Be good at what you do, and the people who need to know how good you are will, and the others don’t matter anyway. This is not a book on how to get to be the CEO, it is simply about succeeding in the role of project manager. (If you want to be the CEO, I would advise that you read something else.)