Perhaps there are still managers who believe that management is meetings, training and product improvement programs and various reports. However, in our time it has become obvious that project management is primarily work with people.
How to choose from a variety of candidates the person you need? What is the optimal number of people in a team at different stages of the project? How can you optimize your work if you have tight deadlines? How to identify and resolve conflicts? How to fire a person without offending him? What qualities should a good leader have? You will learn about all this from this book, which, moreover, is not a dry book. treatise, a captivating adventure novel!
The book is addressed to project managers in the field of information technology.
Foreword
In the 1930s, physicist George Gamow of Colorado State University began publishing a mini-series of stories about a certain Mr. Tompkins, a middle-aged bank clerk. Mr. Tompkins, it appeared from these stories, was interested in modern science. He regularly attended the evening lectures of the local university professor and, of course, always fell asleep in the most interesting place. And when he woke up, he found himself in some parallel world, where one of the basic laws of physics acted differently than in his world.
In one of these stories, for example, Mr. T woke up in a universe where the speed of light was only fifteen miles.
per hour, and could observe the effects of relativity while cycling. As he pedaled faster, the approaching buildings shrank in size, and the hands of the clock on the post office slowed down. The plot of another story was that Mr. Tompkins traveled to a world where Planck's constant was equal to one, and observed quantum mechanics in action, standing at a pool table: the balls did not roll smoothly on the surface, as usual, but assumed an unpredictable position, like quantum balls. particles.
I was introduced to Gamow's stories when I was a teenager. Like Mr. Tompkins, I was interested in modern science, by that time I had already read many books on quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. But only after the stories about the unlucky bank clerk fell into my hands did I finally begin to understand what it was all about.
I have always admired how Gamow managed to describe complex scientific postulates in such an interesting and unobtrusive way. It seemed to me that some principles of project management could be described in the same form. And I decided to tell you, dear reader, a story about an experienced leader who ended up in some imaginary country where changes were made “from above” in various management rules. Thus was born (my deepest apologies to George Gamow) the idea for this book, a story about a manager named Tompkins who ended up in the former socialist republic of Morovia.
Tom DeMarco,
Chapter 1
The widest possibilities
Mr. Tompkins sat in the back row of Baldridge 1, the main auditorium of the Big Telecommunications Corporation (Penelope, New Jersey). He'd spent quite a bit of time here in the last few weeks giving lectures to the layoffs. Mr. Tompkins and several thousand other professionals and middle managers like him were simply shown the door. Well, of course, no one spoke so rudely and straightforwardly. Commonly used phrases were: "downsizing", or "as a result of downsizing the company", or "optimizing the size of the company", or - and this option was the most wonderful of all - "we give the freedom to choose another job." For this last phrase, an abbreviation was immediately invented: SVDR. Tompkins was one such SVDR.
Today at Baldridge 1, another lecture was to be held on the topic "The broadest opportunities are right in front of us." As stated in the program, this series of lectures consisted of "more than a hundred hours of extremely exciting trainings, pieces, musical interludes and other activities for the newly minted SVDR" - and all in five weeks. Employees of the personnel department (who were not fired by anyone) were convinced that becoming an SVDR was the greatest happiness, but for some reason the rest did not understand this. Of course, they themselves really wanted to become SVDR. Honestly. But, alas, no luck so far. No, no, sir, for the time being they have to bear their burden: to receive regular salaries and promotions. And now they will rise to the stage and courageously continue their hard work.
The last few rows in the auditorium fell into what acoustic engineers call "dead." For some mysterious reason that no one has yet been able to explain, the sound from the stage practically did not penetrate here, so it was great to take a nap here. Tompkins always just sat there.
On the seat opposite, he laid out today's set of company gifts: two thick notebooks and other small items packed in a beautiful cloth bag with the company logo and the inscription: "Our company is losing weight, so everyone else can gain weight." On top of the bag lay a baseball cap with embroidery: "I am SVDR and I'm proud of it!" Tompkins stretched, pulled his baseball cap over his eyes, and within a minute was sound asleep.
At this time, the HR choir sang loudly on the stage: “The widest opportunities - let's open the door for them! Let's open it!" According to the plan of the performers, the audience had to clap their hands and sing along: “Let's open it!” To the left of the stage stood a man with a loudspeaker and cheered the audience with cries of "Louder, louder!" Several people clapped listlessly, but no one wanted to sing along. However, all this noise began to make its way even into the "dead zone" where Mr. Tompkins slept, and finally woke him up.
Tom DeMarco is a contemporary writer, a well-known American computer technology engineer, winner of various awards for achievements in software development. He has extensive experience in project management, conflict resolution, finding the right answers to the tasks. He outlined all his “baggage” of knowledge in the book “Deadline. A novel about project management. The basic rules in the world of the IT industry are explained in simple language, easy-to-understand examples are shuffled with a bit of humor, and all this is based on an unpretentious plot. This novel is positioned as a work of art. This is the "trick" of the book - all boring moralizing is written in a fun and accessible form, confirmed by the author's own experience and the secrets of his colleagues. Tom DeMarco generously shares the basic principles of project management and beyond. This is a reference book for all managers and subordinates.
All these clues are revealed to us the protagonist books - IT manager Webster Tompkins. Under mysterious circumstances, he ends up in the small communist country of Morovia, where he has to manage people, projects, and face various problems. The main task is to raise the economy of a decadent power. Will he cope with such a difficult task? The answer is hidden in the vastness of the work.
Read the book "Deadline. A novel about project management” is all the more interesting because it is presented in a very accessible form. And at the end of each given example, summarizing conclusions are written that help the manager in solving the tasks. In general, the author brought to life an interesting idea: to present such a serious topic as project management to us in the form of a fascinating work of art.
Tom DeMarco wrote a book not only for management. The author is sure that we are all leaders of our lives, so his practical advice will help everyone understand the complex life ups and downs. Many conclusions can be used in any area: conflict resolution, teamwork, achievement of goals.
Book «Deadline. A novel about project management” summarizes the long-term practice of research work. You can read it and find answers to different situations and guidance on how to solve them. This is a priceless work of art in the IT industry. And her style of writing helps to better understand the advice given.
Tom DeMarco briefly, concisely and most clearly conveys to the reader all the problems of project management, people management and brings all the invaluable knowledge to the reader's judgment. Therefore, everyone should read this book.
On our literary website, you can download the book by Tom DeMarco “Deadline. A novel about project management" for free in formats suitable for different devices - epub, fb2, txt, rtf. Do you like to read books and always follow the release of new products? We have big choice books of various genres: classics, modern science fiction, literature on psychology and children's editions. In addition, we offer interesting and informative articles for beginner writers and all those who want to learn how to write beautifully. Each of our visitors will be able to find something useful and exciting.
A cool but unrecognized IT manager, Webster Tompkins, first gets fired, then he is framed by a random beauty, drugged and taken to the small communist country of Morovia.
Fantasy?
No. Basically, it's a project management book. In the form of a fantasy novel.
How do you like that? Meet the review of the book by Tom DeMarco "Deadline. A novel about project management!
Tom DeMarco
Tom DeMarco is the head of the international consulting company Atlantic Systems Guild, specializing in building complex business systems, risk management, reengineering, and building a healthy corporate culture. She also assists in litigation related to software. Member of the Association for computer science(Association for Computing Machinery) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Plot
The kidnapped Webster Tompkins will have to raise the economy of the small communist country of Morovia.
He has endless human and financial resources at his disposal. Webster is opposed by bureaucracy, stupid bosses and tight deadlines.
At the end of each chapter, Webster writes down the lessons learned in his notebook. These notes are the most valuable thing in the book for a manager.
Here are just a few of the topics covered in the book:
- Personnel selection.
- Employee motivation.
- Resolving conflicts within the company.
- Working hours, overtime.
- Reductions and transfers of employees.
- Boss is a tyrant.
How tired of textbooks!
While reading this book, I caught myself thinking about how tired I was of traditional textbooks. Rule - proof - examples - results. And water, water, water...
Healthy? Yes.
Boring? Oh yeah!
I devoured the thick book Deadline in three days. Webster's adventures are addictive, although the topic of the "textbook" was not very interesting to me.
The artistic format makes any textbook more interesting and useful. Why is it so rarely used in business literature?
Summary
An interesting novel about project management. Bright characters, humor, twisty plot - everything is in place.
Write in the comments!
What fiction books about business and self-development have you read?
In the 1930s, the great Russian physicist Georgy Gamow began publishing a series of stories about a certain Mr. Tompkins, a middle-aged bank clerk. Mr. Tompkins, as these stories showed, was interested in modern science. He regularly attended the evening lectures of a local university professor and, of course, always fell asleep in the most interesting place, and when he woke up, he found himself in some kind of parallel world, where one of the basic laws of physics operated in an unconventional way.
In one of these stories, for example, Mr. Tompkins found himself in a universe where the speed of light was only twenty-five kilometers per hour, and could observe the effects of the theory of relativity while cycling. As he pedaled faster, the approaching buildings shrank in size, and the hands of the clock on the post office slowed down. The plot of another story was that Mr. Tompkins traveled to a world where Planck's constant was equal to one, and observed quantum mechanics in action, standing at a pool table: the balls did not roll smoothly on the surface, as usual, but behaved unpredictably, like quantum balls. particles.
I got acquainted with Gamow's stories while still a teenager. Like Mr. Tompkins, I was interested in modern science, by that time I had already read many books on quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. But only after the stories about the unlucky bank clerk fell into my hands did I finally begin to understand what it was all about.
I have always admired Gamow's ability to describe complex scientific postulates in such an interesting and unobtrusive way. It seemed to me that some principles of project management could be described in the same form. And I decided to tell you, dear reader, a story about an experienced leader who ended up in some imaginary country where various management rules were amended "from above". Thus was born (my deepest apologies to Georgy Gamow) the idea for this book - a story about a manager named Tompkins, who ended up in the former socialist republic of Morovia, where he was appointed head of software projects.
Tom DeMarco,
Camden, Maine
Dedicated to Sally (and who else!)
The widest possibilities
Webster Tompkins sat in the back row of Baldridge 1, the main auditorium of the Big Telecommunications Corporation (Penelope, New Jersey office). He'd spent quite a bit of time here over the past few weeks, regularly attending layoff lectures. Mr. Tompkins and several thousand other professionals and middle managers like him were simply shown the door. Well, of course, no one spoke so rudely and straightforwardly. Commonly used phrases were: "downsizing", or "as a result of a downsizing of the company", or "in order to optimize the company's operations", or - and this option was the most wonderful of all - "we give the freedom to choose another job." For this last phrase, an abbreviation was immediately invented: SVDR. Tompkins was one such SVDR.
Today at Baldridge 1, another lecture was to be held on the topic "The broadest opportunities are right in front of us." As stated in the program, this series of lectures consisted of "more than a hundred hours of extremely exciting trainings, pieces, musical interludes and other events for the newly minted SVDR." Employees of the personnel department (who were not fired by anyone) were convinced that becoming an SVDR was the greatest happiness, but for some reason the rest did not understand this. Of course, they themselves really wanted to become SVDR. Honestly. But, alas, so far no luck. For the time being, they still have to bear their burden: to receive regular salaries and to be promoted. And now, having stepped onto the stage, they will courageously continue their hard work.
The last few rows in the auditorium fell into what acoustic engineers call "dead." For some mysterious reason that no one has yet been able to explain, the sound from the stage practically did not penetrate here, so it was great to take a nap here. Tompkins has always settled here.
On the seat next to him, he laid out today's set of gifts from the company: two thick notebooks and other little things were packed in a beautiful cloth bag with the company logo and the inscription: "Our company is losing weight, so everyone else can gain weight." On top of the bag lay a baseball cap with an embroidery “I am a SVDR and proud of it!”. With this inspiring slogan, Tompkins pulled his baseball cap over his head and was sound asleep within a minute.
At this time, the HR choir sang loudly on the stage: “The widest opportunities - let's open the door for them! Let's open it!" According to the plan of the performers, the audience had to clap their hands and sing along: “Let's open it!” To the left of the stage stood a man with a loudspeaker and cheered the audience with cries of "Louder, louder!" Several people clapped listlessly, but no one wanted to sing along. However, all this noise began to make its way even into the "dead zone" where Mr. Tompkins was sleeping, and eventually woke him up.
He yawned and looked around. Not far from him, in the same "dead zone", someone was sitting. A real beauty. Thirty-something, smooth black hair, dark eyes. Smiling slightly, she watched the silent performance on the stage. There was no approval in that smile. It seemed to Tompkins that they had already met somewhere.
– Did I miss anything? he turned to the stranger.
“Just the most important,” she replied, not distracting herself from what was happening.
“Perhaps you can give me a brief description?”
“They tell you to get out, but they tell you not to change the phone company that gives you long distance service.
- Anything else?
“Well… you slept for almost an hour. Let me remember. No, perhaps there was nothing more interesting. Some funny songs.
- Understandably. The usual solemn performance of our HR department.
- Ltd! Mr. Tompkins woke up, so to speak ... in light condition anger?
“You know more than I do.” Mr. Tompkins held out his hand to her. “Very nice, Tompkins.
“Hooligan,” the woman introduced herself, answering the handshake. Now, when she turned to him, he could see her eyes: not just dark, but almost black. And he loved looking at them. Mr. Tompkins felt himself blush.
“Uh-uh… Webster Tompkins. Maybe just Webster.
- What a funny name.
- An old Balkan name. Morovian.
What about Hooligan?
“Hmm, my mother’s girlish indiscretion. He was an Irish merchant ship. Handsome deckhand. Mom has always been partial to sailors. Laxa chuckled, and Tompkins suddenly felt his heart beat faster.
“Ah,” he finally found.
“I think I've met you somewhere before. It sounded like a question.
“We did,” she confirmed.
- Understandably. He still couldn't remember where it could be. Mr. Tompkins looked into the hall - next to them there was not a single living soul. They sat in a crowded auditorium and at the same time could easily communicate face to face. He turned back to his charming companion.
Were you also given freedom of choice?
- Not? Are you staying with the company?
- Again, they did not guess.
- I don't understand anything.
- I don't work here. I am a spy.
He laughed.
- Tell me too!
- Industrial espionage. Have you heard of this?
Recently, in the business environment, more and more attention is paid to working on projects. If earlier the approach was simpler, when the task was set, the performers and deadlines were indicated, now this process has become much more complicated. This makes it possible to perform work more efficiently through control over each stage and careful planning. There are a lot of nuances in project management that any manager and leader should be aware of. Tom DeMarco's Deadline. A novel about project management” in an unobtrusive art form reveals the essence of this difficult process.
To complete a specific task, certain deadlines are set, but there are cases when, due to malfunctions and unforeseen situations, these deadlines are not met. This brings certain losses to the company, although in fact everything could be solved quite simply. This book discusses different sides project management. Readers will be able to learn how to work under time constraints, how to hire and fire employees, how many employees need to be involved in each stage of the project. In addition, there may be conflict situations that require attention and solutions.
Readers will be able to learn about the fascinating story of the protagonist of the novel, watching everything that happens in his life. He enters into his notebook very significant remarks about the work, drawing conclusions from the mistakes made and summing up his work. The book will help you navigate how to behave at different stages of working with projects, how to ensure proper work efficiency and meet all deadlines. First of all, it is intended for project managers of different sizes, as well as for managers of different levels.
On our site you can download the book "Deadline. A novel about project management" by DeMarco Tom for free and without registration in fb2, rtf, epub, pdf, txt format, read the book online or buy the book in the online store.
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