Customer Reviews

Project Management in the Fast Lane: Applying the Theory of Constraints (The CRC Press Series on Constraints Management)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're looking for a good introduction to Theory of Constraints project management, you really have only three choices: this book, Lawrence Leach's "Critical Chain Project Management", and Goldratt's original "Critical Chain" explanation cum novel. Leach can be dismissed out of hand -- his book only marginally discusses ToC PM and it's the most expensive of the three to boot. Goldratt is "the source", but making practical sense of "Critical Chain" and converting it into usable techniques is a chore. That leaves Newbold's "Project Management in the Fast Lane", and it's the star of the group. Newbold clearly describes the various techniques needed by a project manager to actually USE ToC PM. In addition, he addresses the equally thorny issue of how to introduce these concepts to an organization. And all from a very practical, down-to-earth perspective. If you get only one ToC PM book, it needs to be this one.

Newbold covers the basic TOC concepts and applies the thinking processes to project management. He also has several helpful insights into implementing TOC in an organization. It is good information, but Newbold can't seem to decide what he is trying to accomplish with the book - teach project mgmt or implement TOC in an organization. There is lot's of good information and worth reading, but the information is a bit fragmented. I get the sense that Newbold has taken a set of isolated lectures and tried to make a book out of them. The materials need a class room discussion to really sink in. As it is, the concepts are rather isolated and disconnected. It probably makes perfect sense to an experienced TOC consultant, but was a bit over my head with only having read two TOC books prior to this one.

This book is a really good next step for those following the TOC debate. It is the non-fiction equivalent of Goldratt's "Critical-Chain". I do believe however that more could be said on managing multiple projects, and an appendix on practical advice showing how to integrate the theory with common software tools (e.g. Microsoft Project) for people who don't want to spend on ProChain would be very nice to have. But these are really just details. Definitely worth the buy!

The achilles heal of project management, especially in product development, are the estimates of time and resources. Traditional project management approaches do a lousy job of solving this. For example, although traditional PERT was developed to do this, it is not used. (In fact, in most environments PERT is not defined as the tool but as a network diagram because of this.) Finally, there is an effective approach to proactively dealing with inaccuracy in estimates. The critical chain approach can accomplish this, and this is the best book for defining what critical chain is.

This book really digs into the "how to" of critical chain, and even how to use it alongside critical path when you've got stakeholders that make it necessary. It's very clear and has some good illustrations of the concepts via scenarios and lots of figures. I think the novels "The Goal" and "Critical Chain" by Goldratt should probably be prerequisites to this book so the concepts are clear, or maybe just "Critical Chain". If you start out with those books, which are both written as novels, you'll have some easy reads and a way to become immersed in TOC concepts before diving into the details.

Many times these kinds of books are written as marketing brochures with very little information that allows the reader to implement the process improvements. Rob takes a completely different approach by very clearly deliniating the concepts and giving the reader very appropriate examples. You can't find a single reference in his book to his company or their software tools.

Our entire senior management team has been given this book as part of our executive education program. This is a must read for anyone who is involved in the scheduling and management of projects.

Excelente libro para todos aquellos que quieran comprender de una manera progresiva y efectiva los fundamentos y estado del arte en la programación de proyectos. No son necesarios conocimientos previos de TOC aunque si son deseables, asi como tener claros conceptos de TQM y análisis de causas raices, al objeto de aplicar con exito las recomendaciones del libro. Outstanding book for those who want to understand in a progressive and straightforward manner the fundamentals of nowadays realistic project scheduling. TOC background is not necessary but preferable for a better understanding of the philosophy behind these pages. Root Cause Analysis and TQM concepts are also desirable to succesfully implement TOC to project management.

If you liked "Critical Chain," you should enjoy "PM In the fast lane." Newbold presents a more "step-by-step" approach toward applying Goldratt's theories, through a series of examples and diagrams. Once you've finished this book, you should have a much better handle on Critical Chain scheduling. Of course, you'll still need quite a bit of practice, but Newbold does a good job of preparing you for its application.

HELLO, I HAVE ORDERED A BOOK SOME 2 MONTHS AGO AND UNTILL NOW I HAVE NOT RECIEVED IT.
CAN SOMEBODY EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT I HAPPENING WITH MY ORDER?

Do not bother reading "Critical Chain" novel. This is the book to start with. Read it twice: it has so much new thinking against traditional thought that unless you already has TOC concepts it requires a second reading (as good movies). It is a little conceptual book, but if you want more practical advice, you can continue with books like "Critical Chain Project Management" by Lawrence P. Leach; Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO: Multiplying ROI at Warp Speed by Gerald I. Kendall, Steve C. Rollins; and if you are interested in Software Engineering: Agile Management for Software Engineering: Applying the Theory of Constraints for Business Results by David Anderson.