Product Description

The Artech House bestseller, Critical Chain Project Management, now builds on its success in a second edition packed with fresh, field-tested insights on how to plan, lead, and complete projects in "half the time, all the time." It provides you with expanded coverage on critical chain planning, multiple project selection and management, critical change project networks, OPM3, new Agile and Lean techniques related to critical chain project management (CCPM), and effective strategies for bringing about the organizational change required to succeed with this breakthrough method.

This cutting-edge work gives you full understanding of the CCPM techniques, tools, and theory you need to develop critical chain solutions and apply them to all types of projects. You get clear instructions on how to build single-project critical chain plans and how to stagger projects in a multiple-project environment. You also learn buffer management techniques for avoiding the pitfalls of committing too much or too little to any specific project, and for meeting project time and cost commitments every time. Moreover, the book integrates key features of PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) with critical chain to help you master key project management skills not covered in other critical chain books, such as scope control and risk management.

This easy-to-follow guide offers you the power to shorten project delivery time, eliminate cost and scheduling over-runs, manage project resources more efficiently, reduce stress on your project team, and finish projects that meet or exceed expectations. Over 100 illustrations help clarify this innovative method that has produced well-documented results in a growing variety of project environments.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84946 in Books
• Published on: 2004-12-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 276 pages

About the Author
Lawrence P. Leach is president of Advanced Projects, Inc. and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). He received his M.S.ME. from the University of Connecticut and his M.B.A. from the University of Idaho.

Customer Reviews

The Best Book on Critical Chain Yet !
If your organization finds itself mired in delays, budget overruns, and exhausted staff 'running around in circles,' critical chain project management (CCPM) deserves your serious consideration.

An excellent start on the road to dramatic improvements for managing your projects, this book by Mr. Leach includes his practical experiences and numerous tips for successful project management using the renowned Critical Chain approach created by Dr. Eli Goldratt. A key component of this work is the implementation plan, which will jump start your planning for the breakthrough solution to projects mired by bottlenecks and will set you on track for a process of ongoing improvement for your portfolio of projects.

This book does a superb job of walking you through the theory, the psychology, and the practical aspects of critical chain project management. Another key thread is how Larry integrates the PMI Body of Knowledge principles with CCPM - a real plus for those who need the 'whole picture.'

I highly recommend this work for those who are serious about making the dramatic improvements required to excel in the digital revolution - projects often are delivered 20% or more earlier using critical chain properly. Mr. Leach's book will get you started on the right track.

NowI have an idea what to do...
I read Goldratt's Critical Chain and was interested but had no idea what to do next other than pay him a bundle of money for a seminar.

Not the problem here. Now I understand what they are proposing and I can explore these ideas further without forking up more money... at least until I need some good training. Which has it's place... after you've decided to committ.

Good follow-on reading after Goldratt about CCPM
While not a devotee of critical chain project management (CCPM), I embrace several features of the approach.

Overall, this is a fine book despite some typos and minor organization flaws.

Mr. Leach has been promoting, teaching, and consulting in this area for years. It appears that the book is intended to complement his training and consulting---and that's okay. Anecdotes are frequently from questions arising at training or during client implementations. His experience shows.

Leach works to integrate concepts from theory of constraints (Goldratt), Project Management Institute's "PMBOK® Guide," lean manufacturing, and Six Sigma. He does this reasonably well, building upon and extending the foundation laid by Goldratt.

Some standout features of the book include a) implmentation barriers and issues; b) table of project model (logic) checks; and c) extensive notes and a chapter on implmentation.
----------
The first reading about CCPM should always be "Critical Chain" (1997) by E. Goldratt. This is an easy, insightful reading, by the guy that popularized (invented?) CCPM.

Then, before attempting implementation, I suggest studying Larry Leach's (this)book. Another credible guide is "Project Management in the Fast Lane: Applying the Theory of Constraints" (1998) by Robert Newbold