Introduction
As you might expect from the title, this little book makes a play on the biblical Ten Commandments. As the author states in the Introduction:
"This book was written to help project managers deal with tough situations by identifying behaviors that will get a project out of trouble, or will avoid trouble in the first place. It is not intended as an introduction to the discipline of project management; a glance along the shelves of the business section in your local bookstore will present many opportunities to fill that need."[1]
So, each chapter expresses and then explains what the author believes to be a "righteous truth". The author goes on to explain:
"The ideas, conclusions and recommendations in this book evolved during a 30-year career in project management. I have tested and adopted my own advice and when courage and conviction were also present, success followed. Every experience, good or bad, teaches a lesson, and I have selected the more compelling incidents to dramatize the main messages. I believe the examples are sufficiently general to allow interpretation by any reader, although they originate from the discipline of Information Technology (IT)."[2]
Robin Hornby also observes that:
"The rules engraved on tablets of stone and brought down from Mount Sinai were adopted by Moses and his followers out of enlightened self-interest (and perhaps fear of the Lord). These rules laid down a framework for a stable, open and manageable society, but they did not blueprint the constitutional building blocks. Stretching my analogy, the premise of this book is that project management is as much art as science."
Robin hopes that the contents of his book will resonate with your experience and inspire you to deliver a more "righteous project".
1. Hornby, R., Ten Commandments of Project Management, Tempest Management Inc., Calgary, Alta, Canada, 2004, p1
2. Ibid, p2
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