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  Book Review
Project Wreck - Twelve Reasons Projects Fail
by John Langlois, PMP®
Reviewed by
Divya Tyamagundlu, Rational PurifyPlus Group
Bangalore, India —05/03/07, When you pick up Project Wreck, you might wonder whether it is about projects or train wrecks. If you think that it’s going to be a trip with “Thomas and his Friends,” then you will be shocked when the opening chapter puts you on a project headed for disaster; the initially ubiquitous railroad metaphors reveal the real theme of the book - the modern day beast of project management - captured in the light of lessons from failed projects.
The book is written out of the decades of experience that the author, John M. Langlois, has accumulated as a Project Management Professional at IBM, and offers value to readers who are:
- Students of project management looking for practical knowledge
- Project managers looking for advice from someone who knows the ropes
With it’s casual and occasionally animated narrative, John Langlois takes you on an insightful journey with his crew (team members), his customers, his executives and himself (the conductor). Along the way, he seamlessly balances between demystifying popular theories (when to use them and how rigidly to use them) and solving seemingly trivial problems like deviant team members and overflowing email inboxes. This turns the reading experience into an end-to-end learning exercise for students and early tenure project leads/managers, and a refreshing read for experienced professionals.
Each chapter invariably includes historical anecdotes (Take a Breaks), tips, original quotes, modern-day examples, humor, trivia and practical applications. The author almost “spoon-feeds” the reader, through his pre-designed templates, checklists, letters, reports and Clip-and-Saves, all collected at the end of the book for the quick glancers. His tips come in various forms – from soft skill tips on how to pin down customer requirements to hard skill tips for tracking progress. There are more resources from the author at www.projectEZ.com and also a sneak peak into sample chapters of Project Wreck.
If you start off with this book because you fancy the railroad, you’ll definitely end up learning much more than you imagined. If you pick it up as a strict read on project management, the train metaphor will prove an important point - that your project management woes are not constrained to the domain that you are in; there is a history to it, very clearly elucidated by the author, to assure you that the challenges you face today are not totally unexplored.
The book is recommended for anyone who has anything to do with delivering projects. It’s an engaging read, packed with practical advice and a lot of entertainment along the way!
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About John Langlois