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The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management
 
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The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management (Paperback)

by Tom DeMarco (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
Price: £15.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Dorset House Publishing Co Inc.,U.S. (31 Jul 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0932633390
  • ISBN-13: 978-0932633392
  • Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 206,365 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #35 in  Books > Business, Finance & Law > Management > Project Management

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  • See Complete Table of Contents

Product Description

Review

"Here's a management book which is just plain fun to read. The Deadline is an innovative and entertaining story with insightful business principles for team-based project management at the end of each chapter."

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Some good insights, some I disagree with., 6 Dec 2002
By A Customer
First of all a good story, and some nice points about software development along the way. I liked the changed staffing model, that overstaffing is bad, the point about people not thinking faster under pressure, wish-dates for deadlines don't work, the management dynamics (modelling your hunches), and the points on conflict resolution (mediation is easy).

But I must say I disagree with the last minute implementation theory. And no testing until the implementation is done?? It looks a lot like the good old waterfall model! Very few clients will let you defer implementation till the last 1/5 or 1/6 of the project! If they can't see progress from the beginning they get nervous and start shouting etc.

Second, the staffing model as explained (staffing up agressively towards the end of a project) seems to ignore the time it takes to integrate new members into a team. In the story Mr. T luckily has 3 teams doing about the same thing, so getting them up to speed is easier. In real life I haven't seen that so far. Note, the story deals with integration time earlier in the book, so I think the solution to raid the existing similar teams is too easy / far from reality :-) Try again!

I'd say I believe more in the XP way of doing things. Same staffing model, start small, staff up as the software develops. Lots of early implementation and testing, yet still enough design to avoid killing the project. And the client always knows exactly how much he has at any time. That is, the software as it runs today!!

... but then again, I haven't been a manager :-) only been exposed to a lot of bad ones.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, full of nuggets, but ultimately flawed, 20 Jul 2000
By A Customer
Great format, easy read, killed a couple of train journeys quite well. Lots of useful nuggets well presented. However, grounds out on the theory that as long as 'the design' is done correctly, (using some form of unspecified magic :-) then implementation turns into a mechanical task. If it were only so...
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The book or managing software teams, 23 Oct 2003
By Mr. Keith Sterling "keiff" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I have always been a huge fan of Tom since reading Peopleware and having my eyes opened.
You read this book, exactly like a novel and at the suddenly realise you have been taught something.
The story isn't bad either !!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting insights into team and project dynamics
After reading this book I had to sit down and take a look at my own methods and experience with projects and their dynamics. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars The Truth About Deadlines!
An interesting, enjoyable read with many truths about deadline pressures and managerment vs development staff interactions. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable insights, easy reading, expensive
superb insight into software project management, and also valuable for other projects and general management. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent but...
an Excellent and very entertaining read but .. (and hence not a 5 star) - where is the refernce bibliography ? (suggestions and comments at the end ? Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for anybody involved in project management
With a slightly weak beginning, the book suddenly grabs you with the challenge ahead. Each chapter presents situations that are easy to relate to your own projects. Read more
Published on 2 Aug 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Very readable - more important: very good points made
In this book a lot of problems of big software development projects are discussed. DeMarco discusses causes as well as solutions in a way that makes things very understandably... Read more
Published on 3 Mar 1999

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