Chapter 1: Introduction - How to Use This Book Effectively

What ‚ s in This Chapter?

• A look at 12 common myths about project management

• Suggestions on how to make the most of the materials in this workbook

• A guide to what ‚ s included in the workbook and on the CD

The art of project management reaches back to prehistory: We still marvel that achievements ranging from Stonehenge to the Great Pyramids to the cathedral at Chartres to the Wright brothers ‚ first successful flight in December 1903 were all created without the benefit of the formal tools and methods we now think of as part of the science of project management. So you might be asking, ‚“Hey, if those folks didn ‚ t need it, why should we bother spending time and money training people in our organizations to be project managers? ‚½ Well, I think first of all that project management is both an art and a science. I also believe that both the science and the art are teachable, that people within organizations can benefit immediately from even small doses of project management knowledge, and that organizations can put together effective project management mini-curricula without incurring a lot of expense.

As an instructor in a graduate M.B.A. program in project management, I also hasten to add that we are talking in this book mainly about the teaching of introductory project management. Most of the training we ‚ ll be designing here will be for training events of a couple of days or less. Yes, project management by now has an extensive body of knowledge ‚ with a small ‚“b.o.k. ‚½ here; we ‚ ll discuss the Project Management Institute ‚ s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 2000 Edition (PMBOK) a little later on. We will focus on training in project management basics, but we will make sure to include essential material and pointers to ‚“what ‚ s next ? ‚½