Thousands of project management-related books have been written. Why is Optimizing Project Work, Management, and Delivery different?

The book represents the authors' experiences gained from looking at the problem of project management for fifty years and wondering why projects cannot be more successful. Experience from various management models and techniques have helped but still do not fit reality or provide accurate forecasts. Industry surveys have compiled the root causes of project failure and yet they persist. Is there no answer to this problem?

As the book explains, the management solution is not in the models or the theory but is found in how those are mapped against the actual target project characteristics. This is the book's unique strength. There are major coverage gaps in current project management models that also need to be recognized. All of the existing models are correct in some ways and yet each is also wrong.

The book starts by reviewing popular models and related topics that help construct the building blocks of an integrated model structure, which is at the core of this book. The integrated model described here is meant to be a decision-oriented view related to the project life cycle and rather than a cookbook of success steps. Project management is too complex for a cookbook approach. The operative answer for a specific project must come from managers who knows how to look into the dark and find the right path. This book helps managers to find that right path.

Gary L. Richardson retired from the is the University of Houston, College of Technology graduate project management program as the PMI Houston Endowed Professor. During these sixteen years, he taught PMP and project-related programs for the university, plus external U.S. and international organizations. He also taught various project management programs to audiences in Finland, Russian, Iraq, China, and South America. He previously held professional certifications as a Professional Engineer (PE), Project Management Professional (PMP), and certification in Earned Value. In this time frame, he produced six professional texts on the topic area of project management.
Brad Jackson is co-founder and CEO of cordin8, llc. He has spent over thirty-five years focused on developing and implementing collaborative technologies in support of team-based organizations. He has implemented these technologies to support teamwork for global clients in oil and gas, insurance, consulting, and telecommunications.