The US Department of Defense Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Knowledge Sharing System (AKSS) was launched in October 2002 to replace the Defense Acquisition Deskbook. AKSS will continue to provide acquisition information for service components and across functional disciplines.
AKSS serves as the central point of access for all Acquisition, Technical and Logistics (AT&L) resources and information, and to communicate acquisition reform. As the primary reference tool for the Department of Defense AT&L workforce, it provides a means to link information and reference assets from various disciplines into an integrated information source.
The AKSS provides a reference source for US DoD policy documents and fosters the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics related US DoD communities of practice (CoP). These Communities of Practices, an integral part of the AKSS promote sharing of lessons learned, best practices and templates on a continuing basis. [ More on the AKSS ]
by Kim Heldman, PMP
Publisher: Sybex
ISBN: 0-7821-4106-4
The PMP-SG
A Book Review by David Allingham
PMP® Candidate Spring 2003
It took me a really long time to put this review together, because I read the book twice, carefully. Why would I do that? Was it that good? I thought it was perhaps because I was unfamiliar with the PMBOK® way of saying things. This last reading, followed by this review, was just before my examination date.
This book is very easy to read, the author has a good style and communication is an obvious strength. However, there is a sense that the book was quickly tossed together which enters your mind while reading it, and it just never leaves. This feeling is heightened by some really obvious review errors in this book.
Answers to the review questions in Chapter 2 start at eighty-one instead of one and the process area description seems to just drop in out of the blue after a marvellous lead in and it really gives you a jerk. The process areas are well explained and the placement in the book does sense especially for referring back to... but you'll be the only one doing so.
In the introduction to each chapter the process areas are referenced by name and again as they are discussed, but if you want to position each area in the context of the overall PMI® process flow, you'll need to mark the process pages well.
I found some things in the book just confusing. In chapter 3 (Project Charter) there is an example of 'benefit/cost analysis' and then in chapter 4 (Scope and WBS) the more familiar 'cost/benefit analysis', so... which is the valid terminology for the PMP? After the book's mid-point an "I've got to get this finished!" feeling begins to co-mingle with "tossed together" and nowhere is this stronger than in the math sections. For example, providing the formulas for project selection, i.e. NPV and IRR, would have greatly assisted in the clarity of the explanation provided, which I felt was weak.
At the very end of chapter 5 (Resource Planning) the expansion of acronyms gets very uneven, for example AOA is expanded while PDM is not, and is it a "point of service" terminal or a "point of sale" terminal? In chapter 6 (Planning controls) there is a probability/impact matrix that lacks a good discussion on how it was created and there is also a table that makes use of the matrix, which the text doesn't properly address. This makes the whole chapter unclear and confusing.
In chapter 9 (Measuring and Controlling), I found the formula descriptions to be uneven and in some cases meaningless and confusing, this is especially true when numbers start getting plugged into the formulae without mentioning where they are originating from.
The book and the included CD (which has some nice features only for Palm users) are full of multiple-choice questions that often seem to have two right answers? This is just like on the real exam. Also on the CD you can find flash cards and an electronic version of the book. The problem is, after the other 'quality' issues experienced, can I believe that all of the answers provided are actually the 'right' answers?
Still, there is a lot to like about this book. the excellent running project example that develops throughout the text, the review questions, the sample tests, the electronic flash cards, the assessment test... However, it seems that the most important project constraint, quality, was supplanted by time and cost. In fact, it is the assessment test at the very beginning of the book that most highlights the quality issue... there just isn't the depth in the text to truly strengthen any weakness it might find although this is one of the stated goals for the text.
David H. Allingham<Allingham@sympatico.ca
Donna Fitzgerald writes a regular column called The Nimble Project Manager for Builder.com. Her columns on Peter Senge's book The Fifth Discipline are about mental project management models. That is, she postulates that understanding your mental models will sharpen PM skills. She describes the Senge mental models and their significance for managing projects.
Donna sees the "Nimble Project Manager" as one who sees that projects are complex adaptive systems. Another way of saying the same thing is project ends and means emerge from the interactions of the team members with each other as they respond to an unfolding future. Her mental model of Nimble Project Management is
Nimbleness requires knowing when a situation needs to be controlled and when it needs time to evolve. All projects are unique in some way. Fitzgerald proposes two approaches for dealing with the bias of our mental models:
Check out her description of Chris Argyris' approach for investigating seemingly intractable personal conflicts. Search the Builder.com site with the "Donna Fitzgerald" for [More on the Nimble Project Manger]
The world famous Wideman Comparative Glossary of Project Management Terms has been translated into Chinese. This book, 755 pages, 7.5"x9", is an important contribution to project management in China. For details of the publication's availability, please contact Ren Wei in Beijing by Email at renw@163.net.
Real Web Project Management is a book of solutions for designing, managing, and delivering virtually any type of Web-based project.. The book also comes with a CD-ROM, featuring templates, model Web sites, project checklists, consulting contracts and vendor reviews. For more on Real Web Project Management: Case Studies and Best Practices from the Trenches check the PMFORUM Book Shop.