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Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management (Theory in Practice (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

by Scott Berkun (Author)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 392 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; illustrated edition edition (25 Mar 2008)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0596517718
ISBN-13: 978-0596517717
Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 17.8 x 2.5 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 25,757 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#98 in Books > Computing & Internet > Programming > Languages & Tools

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Product Description

In the updated edition of this critically acclaimed and bestselling book, Microsoft project veteran Scott Berkun offers a collection of essays on field-tested philosophies and strategies for defining, leading, and managing projects. Each essay distills complex concepts and challenges into practical nuggets of useful advice, and this new edition now adds more value for leaders and managers of projects everywhere. Based on his nine years of experience as a program manager for Internet Explorer, and lead program manager for Windows and MSN, Berkun explains to technical and non-technical readers alike what it takes to get through a large software or web development project."Making Things Happen" doesn't cite specific methods, but focuses on philosophy and strategy. Unlike other project management books, Berkun offers personal essays in a comfortable style and easy tone that emulate the relationship of a wise project manager who gives good, entertaining and passionate advice to those who ask. Topics in this new edition include: How to make things happen; Making good decisions; Specifications and requirements; Ideas and what to do with them; How not to annoy people; Leadership and trust; The truth about making dates; and, What to do when things go wrong. Complete with a new forward from the author and a discussion guide for forming reading groups/teams, "Making Things Happen" offers in-depth exercises to help you apply lessons from the book to your job.It is inspiring, funny, honest, and compelling, and definitely the one book that you and your team need to have within arm's reach throughout the life of your project. Coming from the rare perspective of someone who fought difficult battles on Microsoft's biggest projects and taught project design and management for MSTE, Microsoft's internal best practices group, this is valuable advice indeed. It will serve you well with your current work, and on future projects to come.

About the Author

Scott Berkun worked on the Internet Explorer team at Microsoft from 1994-1999 and left the company in 2003 with the goal of writing enough books to fill a shelf. The Myths of Innovation is his second book: he wrote the best seller, The Art of Project Management (O'Reilly 2005). He makes a living writing, teaching and speaking. He teaches a graduate course in creative thinking at the University of Washington, runs the sacred places architecture tour at NYC's GEL conference, and writes about innovation, design and management at www.scottberkun.com.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very practical - recommend for anyone interested in making things happen, 27 Feb 2009

By	P. Wood "bigglespete" (Dorset, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a brilliant Project Management guide.I do Project Management for a living. I am always interested in learning from others so I can do a better job.
This book is very practical - it has so much sound practical advice - and it is readable!
Recommend for anyone involved in management as well as projects.
Here is just one of hundreds of points chosen at random: (about a Project Manager) "his value is determined by how well he can apply his brilliance to the project through other people" and Scott goes on to discuss and suggest how. Another suggestion for a PM to ask " "What can I do to help you do your best work?" "
Inspirational!

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5.0 out of 5 stars 5 reasons why this book stands out in the crowd, 16 Jun 2009

By	Smaranda Calin - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've had a decent dive into project management theory as far as software is concerned. In all honesty, I found "Making Things Happen" to be one of the most useful books I have ever read.

These are the 5 reasons why it stands out in the crowd:

1. It's sensible
As opposed to hard-core computer science, project management inevitably confronts you with the fact that reality (unlike an if statement) is unstructured, human and has more to do with circumstances than we'd like to think. Most management books and classes that I've been to generally focus on providing you with fixed recipes - which are in fact no more than algorithms that happen to have worked a couple of times. I have always had a hard time linking those with the actual situations that I found myself in. While reading this book, I had the feeling of "these are the principles, these are the mechanisms that drive them - now go adapt this to whatever you have in your back yard." And that's what really makes it useful after you put it down and go to work.

2. It teaches you to judge for yourself
Along the same lines of "all around down to earth stuff" I like the fact that the book considers alternatives when tackling some of the major topics - such as how to do your planning. Sure, the advice is to the point and decisive, but at no time does it leave the impression that the author holds the absolute truth or even that there is an absolute truth. It leaves room for "customization" depending on the situation that the reader finds himself in, the size of the project, the level of the team etc. And that's a really strong point.

3. It's very well documented
A distinctive thing about this book is the you can clearly see the crazy amounts of research and documentation that went into it. The fabulous thing is that all the quotes and references open up a whole palette of opportunities for any reader to further expand his knowledge.

4. It shows you the overall picture
One of the reasons why I hold this book and not another one in high esteem is because it looks at processes, teams and skills from a bird's eye perspective. The point is not just to know how to write a good spec. The point is to also understand why you are writing it and how the poor thing fits into the overall picture - what happens before the spec and after the spec is just as important for a project's success.

5. It's backed by experience
Last but not least, the most valuable thing that a skilled project manager can share is... his experience. That being said, I loved the war stories - they are the juiciest part of the book. They simply say "I've been there with you, guys. I know what you're feeling right now - I'm not just preaching for the sake of the art". At the end of the day, I found that these were the bits that made me set aside my ego and openly consider my mistakes and challenges.

On top of all that, it's seductively witty and easy to read, thus making it the first book I recommend to anybody that needs to "make things happen" in the software business.

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