Project Lessons from The Great Escape (Stalag Luft III) [Paperback]

Mark Kozak-Holland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2007

While you might think your project plan is perfect, would you bet your life on it? In World War II, a group of 220 captured airmen did just that -- they staked the lives of everyone in the camp on the success of a proejct to secretly build a series of tunnels out of a prison camp their captors thought was escape proof. The prisoners formally structured their work as a project, using the proejct organization techniques of the day. This book analyzes their efforts using modern project management methods and the nine knowledge areas of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK Guide). Learn from the successes and mistakes of a project where people really put their lives on the line.

A portion of the sale of each copy of this book goes to The Great Escape Memorial Project.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I found Mark's most recent book to be quite excellent. His ability to apply project management theory and methodologies to historical events is quite unique - and informative. I have read other accounts in the past regarding the events at Luft Stalag III, but none from Mark's PM-focused perspective.
Thomas Clement, HP Education
Rating: [5 of 5]

This book and others by Mark are a tremendous resource for educators - the stark reality of failed projects and Mark's detailed research, historical accuracy, and the link to the PMBOK, helps us to analyze and understand we are not alone in managing our complex projects today.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars]
Linda Desmond, Past President, PMI Mass Bay

Mark uses terms and ideas found in the PMBOK. He also relates the events to the 9 knowledge areas. By applying these principles to a famous historical event, Mark takes the blandness of the PMBOK and combines it with a story, which makes the reader forget that they are reading a book to be used for teaching.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars]
Amanda Bragg

I thought this was an excellent book.  It took PM and applied it to a real life scenario.  Unlike most books this was easy to read and enjoyable.  I found that I actually picked up the PM concepts and retained them better than when reading "dry" text books which I have to reread 2-3 times. 
Richard Warner

I really feel that I learned not only some history about the great escape, but also see the PMBoK applications that were used.  This is a great method of teaching and learning!!
Eric Peterson

A nice contrast from the other Project Management materials currently use in the classrooms and workplace [...] Kozak-Holland takes the blandness of the PMBoK and combines it with a story. --TCM Reviews

Straightforward and to the point, once I started reading, I found that I could not put the book down. --Ed Snowden, PMP

[Author Kozak-Holland] has taken a series of events and honorably translated them into a book that shows how project plannign works. [...] His ability to teach the subject by using historic events is second to none. Mr. Kozak-Holland has provided business managers, college students, and anyone interested in the subject a series of books that needs to be part of every college, university, and library. If you haven't read this book, I strongly recommend that you do. They are excellent, and "Project Lessons from The Great Escape" is no exception. --William E. Cooper, Reader Views

From the Author

An author's perspective on the journey to complete the book

Project Lessons from The Great Escape (Stalag Luft III) is the fourth book in the Lessons from History series. It follows the evolution of a Prisoner of War escape from a World War II camp and applies lessons to today's business and project environment. The book makes business recommendations that are backed up by its exhaustively detailed case study of a project team working to achieve a common goal. 

When I completed Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise I had been looking for a while for a follow up in the series but a somewhat simpler historical project. I set some criteria which included a straightforward story line, a well defined beginning, middle, and end. I was also looking for a difficult situation, a dire environment to launch a project, where the political support was lacking, and there would be a lot of groups trying to close it down. It had to be an event that was run as a project and relied more on human ingenuity and perseverance, than established practices and tools.
 
The idea of using the Great Escape was a true moment of realization, and I was very excited in getting it started. When I first considered the idea I was concerned it could be somewhat removed from what is generally considered "a project" in the business world. It was the least obvious project I could think of, and most people would not consider it to be a project. After sometime to further research it and run the idea by a few people including my publisher Kevin Aguanno at MMPUBS I became convinced and was convinced it was a good idea.
 
My analysis showed that this event went through a very meticulous and an enormous level planning. The escape committee that planned the escape instigated a project of a monumental scale. They were scaling up previous projects by 20 fold. Nothing was easy, almost everything was a challenge to the project team. An inhospitable and inconducive environment was in place to numb prisoners into boredom and inactivity. These were truly dire circumstances to launch a project from. Hence, the appeal as today's projects seem tame and easy in comparison.
 
The publisher set up a challenge and suggested that one of the criteria of in writing the book was to look at the project from the 9 project management knowledge areas of the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK), developed in 1983. The question was whether they would hold up in project that preceeded them by 40 years. It would help establish how well founded these were. Was there evidence that projects of the past followed these intuitively, in the days before the project management discipline was established. Gut feel told me it did, and I wanted to determine if and how well the project followed these knowledge areas. I will let you make the determination.
 
* for more read lessons-from-history.com/node/103

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Multi-Media Publications Inc.; 1st edition (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1895186803
• ISBN-13: 978-1895186802
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #706,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The Lessons-from-History series was developed by Mark Kozak-Holland, PMP. Mark is very passionate about history and sees its potential use as an education tool in business today. Mark is a Project Manager and a Senior Business Consultant (certified in the Consultant Profession). He specializes in helping organizations evaluate how emerging technologies can impact their business.

* www.lessons-from-history.com
* www.youtube.com/user/projectlessons?feature=mhsn

Mark puts a different spin on complex business problems by applying lessons from history. In his book series, Lessons-from-History, he uses relevant historical case studies to examine how projects and emerging technologies of the past solved complex problems. Mark believes history has great relevance in business today. A good analogy helps to simplify, frame and put today's complex projects into context. It builds up a better understanding and enhances reader retention.

* www.lessons-from-history.com/node/14

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some valuable lessons about project management, as long as the analogies are not taken too far, February 23, 2008

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Project Lessons from The Great Escape (Stalag Luft III) (Paperback)

One of the most dramatic escape attempts ever carried out by prisoners of war took place at Stalag Luft III in eastern Germany in World War II. It was a prison camp populated almost exclusively by allied airmen shot down over Germany. Nearly all were crew members of bombers that were devastating the German cities. The German population considered them to be criminals and there were many instances of downed fliers being brutally killed by the revenge-minded civilian population. Therefore, if a POW was to escape from the Stalag, there was little possibility of being aided by the civilians if it were to become known that he was the member of an Allied air crew.
The POWs in the camp were well organized and controlled, in many ways the camp represented a village isolated in the region but in contact with the outside world. Red Cross parcels arrived on a regular basis and there was a strict military chain of command that was respected by both the POWs and their German military guards. Within this context, the POWs planned and carried out an elaborate tunneling system that allowed several hundred POWs to flee the camp.
In this book, the author relates the project of escaping from the camp to other major projects in less life-threatening circumstances. There is the process of setting the overall goals, soliciting and examining all possible options, making a decision regarding what option to pursue, managing the project, setting the timeframe for termination, acquiring and efficiently allocating limited assets, and carrying out the escape attempt. Of the hundreds of men who fled the camp on the night of March 24, 1944 only three made it back to allied territory and over 50 of those captured were executed by the Gestapo. What was considered the greatest point of success was that immediately after the escape, 70,000 German soldiers were tied down in the search and re-capture of a few hundred men.
While I agree that some of lessons of the great escape can be applied to the modern business world, one must be very careful in too tightly winding the analogy. I cite the following reasons why some space must be maintained.

1) This project was carried out in a time of war, being bombarded by memos and business plans is nowhere near the threat of death by bombs and bullets.
2) The men in Stalag Luft III were under military discipline, where the order of a superior officer must be obeyed. Attempting to relate military command structures to civilian processes is a difficult one to do right.
3) The POWs in the stalag were not able to leave, not even request a transfer. This will impart a cohesion that cannot exist in civilian life, where a person is free to quit and pursue another job.
4) Being airmen, the POWs in Stalag Luft III were more intelligent, educated and highly trained than most other members of the military. Given the large number of POWs in the camp, this meant that nearly every skill would be present.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could not put the book down, September 24, 2007

By 

William J. Vollano Jr. "William J. Vollano Jr... (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Project Lessons from The Great Escape (Stalag Luft III) (Paperback)

An entertaining and informative book that connects the Great Escape to the PMBoK (project management book of knowledge) knowledge areas in a way that teaches you without sounding like a classroom textbook. Our department's group of PMPs will be using this book as reference during our weekly lunch and learn sessions to discuss how we can better plan our contingencies. The book has taught me that almost any obstacle can be overcome with some basic brainstorming and resourcefulness. I would highly recommend this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Lessons for Project Managers and Project Participants, October 21, 2009

By 

AMS (Mantua, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Project Lessons from The Great Escape (Stalag Luft III) (Paperback)

Project management is a discipline that has much written about it, both conceptual and practical, enough to fill any interested individual's library. This book, by the well-known leader of the Lessons from History series, gives new depth to the implementation of project management in a controlled, dangerous environment. Also, it is a great lesson from history, showing that even under extreme duress, people can work together to achieve commonly shared goals.

As another reviewer mentioned, the participants in the stalag escape project were all military men and officers imprisoned by the Germans, so their situation is very different from business and their need to adhere to rules and regulations was much greater than we who work on a project for an organization. However, many of the techniques employed and many of the lessons learned in the Great Escape can be used in some form by project managers and participants regardless of the situation, and others can be adapted to an extent.

Finally, this book, like all of Mark Kozak-Holland's books, is well-written and enjoyable to read. I think any student of WWII history would find this interesting, as will any practioner of project management.