Customer Reviews

Race Through the Forest: A Project Management Fable

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

FINALLY - after having my cheese moved, being told what my team's five dysfunctions were, motivating me to have raving fans, and trying to be a one minute manager, it's about time somebody wrote a cerebrally witty business fable for project managers. Johnson captures the reality of project management in a succint way that does what no other business fable has done yet: provides real application that I can use. My status reports and project plans will never be the same. I'm giving this to my team as a must read!

...about project management, presented in an easy to read parable. If your projects aren't running smoothly enough, this is the book you need.

Race Through The Forest is what the business world needs right now. No silver bullets here... just useful ideas. Timothy Johnson is straight as an arrow in writing about the race. The comparison between Biff and Barry is obvious but shows the simple truths about projects. There's a subtle sense of humor throughout the book which keeps the reading interesting. I really liked the acronyms and how they are presented, especially WUHOT.

Author Johnson's fable pitting opposing management styles against one another illustrates with allegorical panache, the results of well executed project oversight. Beware the "Biffster" that awaits managers ignorant of how to effectively plan.

This book is for project managers... and those who need to work with project managers to understand them better... I think Johnson has been spying on a lot of companies because he got a bullseye on both good and bad project behavior. I've been managing projects for over twenty years and this is the first book I've seen that highlights the important stuff so that readers can go back to their desks and put it into action. The SR ARTERY business case and the tips on staffing projects are simple yet amazingly insightful. Regarding the earlier negative review (what was he reading, by the way???), I also hope Johnson does not quit his day job because he obviously uses it to bring so much to the rest of us. This is my best business read of the last two years.

When the first hundred pages of a book are the entire book, it's hard to go wrong. And when one has Timothy L Johnson to put in just enough practical information to make it useful and digestible, and just enough effort to make a readable story, and based the whole thing on simple truths, then you've got a winner.

Race Through the Forest is a one-hour read. More like a pamphlet or executive summary, but more fun.

Speaking of executives, get yours to read it. If one of them comes back to you and says it opened their eyes, or even just reminded them of when their work used to be fun, then you're on the right track. Sign 'em up as your next project sponsor!

This is a wonderful book! Timothy uses the "story" -- probably the best teaching vehicle ever devised -- to delightfully convey the challenges and pitfalls of successfully mangaged projects. The characters are a real hoot: Barry Tortisse, Been Theer, Dun Thaat are just a few of them.

My favorite line in this fable: "So, no more putting sales people in project management positions."

My personal key learning item: I had never fully appreciated the importance of the Business Case in the context of project management.

Are you a project manager? It may not say that on your business card, but I'll bet you're involved in making things happen within your enterprise. This book can help you in one (or both) of two major ways: 1) you'll learn how to contribute more effectively; and, 2) if you're currently "getting in the way of things getting done," you'll learn how to stop being such an impediment.

Tim Johnson has found a way to make project management seem FUN! For experienced project managers, the tools inside this book can help you keep your projects on track in a non-threatening way. For project participants, this book will help you understand why your PMs are asking for updates as often as they do. And for new project managers, this book is a must-have primer that you can carry in your back pocket for instant advice. Well done!

Entertaining read

The Lazy Project Manager www.thelazyprojectmanager.com

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by."
Douglas Adams (Author of 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy')

You have to laugh; well I think you have to laugh.

Without a little bit of fun in every project then the project world can be a dark and depressing place.

Setting a professional but fun structure for your project can really be beneficial for when the problems start to rise up to challenge your plan of perfectness. And problems will inevitably arise.

In the years I have done many things to encourage team bonding, lighten the darker moments of project hell, and diffuse difficult project related situations. I have even accepted the full and complete blame for every problem, issue and challenge to a project in front of a room full of project team members, before walking outside and firing myself (in a loud voice, well voices - one mine and one me pretending to be my boss). The net result was a diffused situation, where it had previously been extremely confrontational between teams and individuals.

Done well this does not damage your status or authority but can actually be a very positive act in people seeing you a human being, and not just a project manager, and thereafter wanting to share a smile and a laugh with you during the day.

It is just the same in that hotbed of confrontation, the home!

Try looking at one of your children when they are in a really bad mood. Look them in the eye, with a serious face, and point a finger at them and say' Don't laugh! Don't you dare laugh! If you laugh you will go straight to the naughty stair!'. I bet at the very least you will get a smile out of them.

My family finds that, even in the most stressed out, aggressive, emotional and 'in your face' moments, if you can make the opposition (and I use that term loosely) laugh then the war is soon over.

It is hard to kill someone when you are laughing.

Well I guess that is true except for some of the more extreme psychopathic types ('No, I expect you to die Mr Bond' ... cue maniacal laughter).

Had the pleasure of taking a graduate-level course in project management from this author years ago. His books are every bit as engaging and motivational as his lectures. Wherever you are on the project management path, you'll benefit from Race Through the Forest. It's a relatively quick read that offers clarity, reassurance and encouragement.