Making Things Happen

Scott Berkun's latest book is out: Making Things Happen, it's an updated edition of his bestseller, The Art of Project Management. Scott was a manager at Microsoft from 1994 - 2003. Back when Microsoft was working on developing Windows, Internet Explorer and MSN. His inspiration behind the book:

"I'd yet to find a book on leading project teams that didn't bore me to tears," said Berkun when asked about his motivation for writing the book. "Every great engineered thing ever made, from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Eiffel Tower to the Internet was made by teams of people, and I thought it was a crime against those triumphs if there wasn't a book about what really happens on project teams and how leaders handle it. I wanted to capture all the things I'd learned over a decade and increase the odds other people wouldn't have to make the same mistakes I did. "How much of the software on the web that you use do you think is good?" Berkun asks. "If it's a small percentage, you can't blame the lack of amazing technology available to developers. The cause of poorly made things is something else--it's how projects are led and managed. My book is a handbook for people trying to make good things happen and who care about the intangible, human elements that software engineering and technology books typically overlook."

His publisher O'Reilly received an onslaught of comments on project management after blogging about Scott's new book. One of the best was from Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching:

Learn from the people Plan with the people Begin with what they know Of the best leaders When the task is accomplished The people will remark We have done it ourselves.

I'll share more as I get into the book. The final copy just arrived this week. And before I forget, he's also authored two ChangeThis manifestos which are a good starting point for Scott's topics.