Checkered Flag Projects: Ten Rules for Creating and Managing Projects that Win! (2nd Edition) [Hardcover]

W. Alan Randolph (Author), Barry Z. Posner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2002

Projects are a way of life in today's companies, as people seek to accomplish more with fewer resources, in loosely-coupled and temporary teams. This book focuses on the critical skills every project team member needs, showing how to make the most of both people and technology, and identifying ten rules that dramatically increase the likelihood of project success. Exceptionally readable and entertaining, this project management book delivers skills every project team leader and member can begin using today -- and a systematic framework that can be adapted to any project, no matter how complex or rapid. The authors draw upon the proven GOCART implementation approach (Goal, Objectives, Checkpoints, Activities, Relationships, and Time Estimates) and powerful DRIVER rules for managing team dynamics (Develop, Reinforce, Excite, Vitalize, Empower, and Risk).

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Today, all work is project work, as organizations seek to accomplish more than ever—with fewer resources—in loosely coupled and temporary teams. Checkered Flag Projects focuses on the crucial skills every project leader and team member needs. Renowned project management experts W. Alan Randolph and Barry Z. Posner identify ten rules that dramatically increase the likelihood of success in any project—and show exactly how to leverage those rules to meet any business challenge.

Nobody is as valuable as a great project manager—or as rare. Checkered Flag Projects is the fastest route to developing the outstanding project management skills that will help you shine in any organization or assignment!

Topics include:

• Creating empowered project teams that can "power projects to success"
• Asking the right up-front questions—and planning for the reality of change
• When to stop planning—and take action
• Integrating people and technology more effectively than ever before
• Building the commitment and passion that makes for resilient, high-performance teams
• Why projects get stuck in mid-lifecycle—and what to do about it
• Using conflict to maximize results, build relationships, and energize your people

Short, to the point, and full of great ideas, this book covers real-world projects from start to finish: finding and creating them, selling them, executing them, and handing them off successfully. It's your single source for realistic solutions to today's key project challenges—from handling conflict and team dynamics to making the most of advanced project management and collaboration technologies.

Get the job done right, on budget, on schedule, starting today—with Checkered Flag Projects!

"This little gem of a book is packed with the skills and rules any manager needs for planning and managing projects that win! "

—Ken Blanchard
The One Minute Manager

"Checkered Flag Projects is a winner that will quickly get your project teams to the Starting Line with a common language, effective process, and useful tools. This workbook will be especially useful for multidisciplinary teams whose members have a diverse range of experience in project management."

—Robert L. Phillips, President & CEO
Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc.

"This is a good read and a long-lasting resource. Posner and Randolph hit the mark, creating an understanding that project management is a dynamic, team-oriented enterprise. This can change the way you manage work."

—Chuck White, President
Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation

"Checkered Flag Projects is an eminently practical guide for organizing and executing projects. Especially useful were the sections on mobilizing, motivating, and managing people in the process."

—Jeffrey B. Samet, Vice President and Principal
Colliers Pinkard, a Global Real Estate Services Provider

"Checkered Flag Projects provides the answers and much more-an insightful guide and reference for projects in any profession, and an excellent resource for effective leadership."

—G. Michael Perry, Chief Human Resources Officer
DuPont Electronic Technologies

"The rules in this easy-to-read road map for successful projects are so helpful—a must read for anyone who has had difficulty crossing the finish line with their projects."

—Jennifer Stanford, Director of Professional Development
Robbins Gioia, LLC

"Fact-based decision making, a robust process, cross-functional team building, and ways to manage what's right, not who's right-a recipe for success for project management. It's all there for anyone who is managing one project or who does project management for a living."

—Bob Cecil, Senior Business Consultant
General Management Technologies

"Finally, an enlightened approach to project management that recognizes the importance of people and provides extraordinary insight on leading teams through winning projects. Required reading for all types of managers."

—Karl Hamlin
K.S. Hamlin & Associates

"Motivation, passion, conflicts—Checkered Flag Projects addresses how to focus this energy towards project goals. An outstanding guide to building and empowering a winning team."

—John T. Donnelly, President
IntePro Solutions

"I'm a big fan of Randolph and Posner's approach. Their practical ideas can help any manager do a better job."

—Linda Wilshusen, Executive Director
Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission

About the Author

W. ALAN RANDOLPH is Professor of Management in the Robert G. Merrick School of Business, University of Baltimore, in Baltimore, Maryland, and senior consulting partner with The Ken Blanchard Companies in Escondido, California.

He consults and leads workshops on a wide range of topics, including global business leadership, teamwork, project management, performance management, and empowerment issues, for such companies as Analog Devices, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Robbins-Gioia, Cargill, and the St. Paul Companies.

His articles on empowerment and project leadership have been published in the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Organizational Dynamics, and many other leading business journals. With Ken Blanchard and John P. Carlos, he is co-author of Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute, a BusinessWeek best seller that has been translated into 13 foreign languages and recently updated and re-released. Randolph is also co-author of The 3 Keys to Empowerment: Release the Power within People for Astonishing Results.

BARRY Z. POSNER is Professor of Leadership and Dean at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University, in Santa Clara, California.

A frequent conference speaker and workshop facilitator, he has worked with organizations including Merck, Hewlett-Packard, L.L. Bean, Alcoa of Australia, TRW, Mervyn's, Lockheed Martin, Levi Strauss, Kaiser Permanente Health Care, Motorola, the U.S. Postal Service, the Conference Board of Canada, Applied Materials, Network Appliance, and Accenture.

With Jim Kouzes, he is author of The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations. With over one million copies in print, this book has been the Featured Selection of several book clubs, was named book of the year by the American Council of Health Care Executives, received the Critic's Choice Award from the nation's book review editors, and has been translated into over 15 foreign languages.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Financial Times Prentice Hall; 2 edition (April 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130093998
• ISBN-13: 978-0130093998
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,370,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Projects Are the People, July 12, 2002

By 

Barry Flicker (Woodacre, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Checkered Flag Projects: Ten Rules for Creating and Managing Projects that Win! (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

Project management is people management. This book provides great insights and profound practicle guidance on how to accomplish that successfully. Responding to the challenge of keeping contributors motivated in a high pressure environment, we are reminded: "All people are motivated. The question is:'Motivated by what?'" I also like the quote, "There is nothing so unequal as the equal treatment of unequals." The graph contrasting Project Stages versus Team Development Stages on page 63 is also a very useful contribution. Anyone looking for some sound guidance on how to help people navigate the complexities of projects would be well served by reading this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars President and CEO, June 27, 2002

By 

Karl Hamlin (Ada, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Checkered Flag Projects: Ten Rules for Creating and Managing Projects that Win! (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

Way back in 1513, Machiavelli, when he wrote The Prince, described a problem repeatedly faced by Project Managers. ?It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage, than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new ones.?

Randolph and Posner have the solution. A solid methodology for project management is certainly necessary, but not sufficient. Project management is not just planning, execution, and control; it is about people and bringing them together in a common vision. Most books written about project management focus on methodology but stop short of people aspects. Not so with this book; it explains how to manage this eminently critical resource in such a way as to optimize their performance on your project. Think of it as getting extraordinary performance from ordinary people. Checkered Flag Projects is a must read for all Project Managers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Project Managers for construction, September 17, 2002

By 

John R. Olsen (Jarrettsville, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Checkered Flag Projects: Ten Rules for Creating and Managing Projects that Win! (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

This is a great resource for my project managers espically for my training sessions. It is full of practical tips and useful information on the "soft side" of managing a project. Most engineers lack these types of skills. I highly recommend this text. JOHN R. OLSEN VP Construction Company