EA Books

Project Management Disasters and How to Survive Them

David Nickson, Suzy Siddons

2006, ISBN: 074944780X, 226 pages, $54.95

Not so long ago, I found myself in the midst of a Project Management Disaster (PMD). I’ve been involved or associated with PMDs before, but this one came a little closer to home and I decided that it was time for Action. The team was feeling a little lost, and I was looking for a systematic means of digging ourselves out of the PMD hole. My own response to this sort of catastrophe is usually to go straight for the self help book, and I leapt at the opportunity read David Nickson and Suzy Siddons’ Project Management Disasters and how to survive them.

In writing this book, the author was seeking to fill a rather cavernous gap in the market. While books describing Project Management theory are plentiful, the written support for what happens when things go wrong are rare.

Nickson starts out by describing why PM disasters happen, goes on to look at what we can learn from said disasters, and then picks out certain techniques and resources that may help teams extract themselves from disasters. These techniques include use of Human Resources departments, public relations methodologies and culture. The two final chapters, Recipes and Survival Skills and What Not to Do, summarise some simple techniques and tips that could be applied on any project.

The feature of the book I found most useful was the set of checklists found at the end of each chapter. The checklists serve as a useful summary of the content of the chapter, and working through them helps the reader to apply the content of the chapter to their own situation. I would recommend that anyone who is in the midst of a PMD might benefit from this book for the checklists in particular. Also, throughout the text the author recommends further reading that would also be quite useful as a starting point if a particular idea or concept resonates with the reader.

The style of the book, however, straddled uncomfortably between essay and textbook. Features of textbooks were included in the text, such as break out headers like “Key Point” or “Note”, but I found the use of them a little distracting as they contained content that should have been included in the main argument to enhance its flow. The content itself was also a little frustrating- there seemed to be quite a number of motherhood statements, and the case studies were frustratingly brief and fragmented. The book would greatly benefit from a more systematic structure and overarching case study supplemented by minor examples. A deliberate decision of whether to use a textbook or essay style would greatly enhance readability.

All in all, this is a fair start on the subject and I agree with the author’s comment that there is little on the way of literature on the matter. A quick scan of engineering journal databases shows that commentaries on the matter are few and far between and it would be refreshing indeed if the profession were able to share how they escaped from their own project management challenges.

As it turns out, my own PMD was not so disastrous after all, and there is much to be said for some perspective and the knowledge that this is not the first project management disaster in history, and that, sadly, it won’t be the last.

Project Management Disasters and How to Survive Them was reviewed by Astrid Kauffman, a project manager in the defence industry.

Root Cause Analysis Simplified Tools and Techniques
Bjorn Andersen and Tom Fagerhaug, 2 e.
2006, ISBN: 9780873896924, 223 pages, $88

This book is a revised and updated edition. The authors’ intent was to provide a range of tools for root cause analysis in problem solving. In the updated version the authors revised the book to include solution implementation and a CD with the tools templates.

While most books on root cause analysis cover the theory and the concepts of the topic, this book presents, as the subtitle states, simplified tools and techniques that can be easily applied to any organization. This book is not designed for an academic study but is a practical guide to selection and application of tools for root cause analysis.

The layout of the book flows nicely so that if you had a particular problem that you were working on you could easily go through step by step to work on finding the root cause. Each tool is explained as follows: Purpose & Application, Steps needed in using the tools, an example, a checklist for using the tool correctly and finally a template. The template is also available to use on the CD supplied.

The last two chapters are on tool selection, with summary given with the advantages and disadvantages of each tool, and some example cases, which are both useful. This book would be useful for the beginner as a teaching aid or self learning tool for various techniques for problem solving, and the experienced practitioner in problem solving for reviewing their techniques and choosing a preferred tool for a particular application.

The examples allow you to select the tool for the situation you may face. The book is excellent for the number of tools it offers and the ease of following up the application of the tool. If you intended to use a particular tool you can easily find it with supporting explanation and templates.

I recommend the book for students and practitioners at all levels of an organization involved in problem solving.

Root Cause Analysis was reviewed by Gad Hakim, Senior Consultant – Project Management  at Connell Wagner.

Lean Six Sigma Demystified: A self-teaching guide
by Jay Arthur
2007, ISBN: 9780071486507, 340pp, $34.95

A lot of books have been published on Six Sigma and Lean methodologies. The real success (bottom-line improvement, employee morale, value to customers) has still been elusive in many cases. The story is similar to TQM, ISO9001 etc. Many people believe that to implement Six Sigma, they need to engage/train black belts and green belts. This is a very heavy expense and scares off many organisations. The author’s objective is to provide a simple methodology and tools to implement Lean Six Sigma (LSS) to make dramatic improvements with a much smaller investment.

Jay makes his intentions very clear in the preface. He states that LSS is a mindset and that there are no pre-requisites of technology to apply these tools. He stresses that focus should be on results. He argues that only a very small fraction of the tools and techniques learnt as a part of black belt in the Six Sigma programme are actually used. He questions the practice of training people with material which they will forget quickly due to its non-application. He claims 90% of the problems can be solved by using a handful of simple LSS tools. He focuses most of the book on the effective application of various steps using LSS concepts and how to reap their benefits. Jay has been in Quality Improvement for around 20 years. For more than 10 years, he has been helping companies use tools like LSS to save them millions.

He has developed macros during his consulting career that can be used in Excel to do charting work. This makes it easy to analyse and identify the hidden factors causing problems. (QIMacros, when installed, are integrated with Excel and become available as a menu item). He has devoted a full chapter to using these tools using Excel in which QI Macros have been installed. It is available to readers as a download for a 90 day free trial period. This can save a lot of time in analysis and justification of the improvement project for users. It is also relatively inexpensive.

Jay uses examples from the real-world to explain the concepts. This makes it easy for readers to comprehend the concepts and how to apply them. He very appropriately mentions the three ‘profit-eating problems: delays, defects and variation’. He suggests (reiterating Deming that 85% of the problems are caused due to processes) ‘Blame your processes and not your people’. He states his message clearly that LSS is a result-oriented, project focused approach to quality, productivity and profitability. He introduces the acronym FISH (Focus, Improve, Sustain and Honor) as the steps to implement LSS easily.

Jay differentiates ‘Six Sigma and Lean’: Six Sigma is to help you improve value-added steps, while Lean can help in eliminating the non-value added delays and activities.

I have read a fair number of books on Six Sigma, including formally reviewing “Six Sigma by Geoff Tennant”. What distinguishes this book is the practical approach to reaping the benefits using LSS tools, instead of a regimented approach to implementing Six Sigma using black-belts and green-belts touted in other books. Jay has succeeded in explaining the complex tools (QFD, FMEA, DOE, ANOVA etc.) of Six Sigma in a simple way and in which situations these can be effectively used.

The author draws upon his personal experience in implementing LSS for his clients and cites a lot of case studies as examples to demonstrate the benefits to the bottom-line in using these principles. He also mentions the pitfalls that can trip these improvement projects and how to successfully get out of these traps. According to Jay, you can achieve a lot by using 4/50 rule (i.e. achieve 50% of benefits by 4% of what you do). He has coined a lot of such rules as memory joggers to aid application of LSS methodologies.

The book has contents ‘at a glance’ as well as detailed contents for each chapter. It is well supported with a detailed index at the end allowing easy search. The book also provides references on topics, which enables the reader to delve further into the topics.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in identifying and eliminating delay, defects, errors and waste in their processes and improve profitability.

Lean Six Sigma: A self-teaching guide was reviewed by Vic Manuja: Vic comes from an engineering background (M. Tech) with 10 years of R&D experience, followed by 15+ years in industry and management consulting. He is an Associate Fellow of AIM, a Senior Member of the IEEE (US) and a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality. His expertise is in matching the core values of an organisation to its operations, thereby creating synergy within the workforce, enabling real business development. He uses tools and technology that is fit for purpose delivering satisfaction to customers and higher profits to owners. He can be contacted on vicmanuja@ieee.org.

Socially Responsible Engineering: Justice in risk management
Daniel A. Vallero and P. Aarne Vesilind
2007, ISBN: 0471787078, 365 pages, $100.95

‘What does it mean to be a “good” engineer, planner, or design professional in the ethical sense? Technical professionals must make daily decisions which impact upon the quality of life of those who live near the facilities, plants, structures, and thoroughfares they design, and in the cites and communities they plan and build. The questions of where these projects are built, who they are to serve, and how they will affect those who live near them are at the heart of Socially Responsible Engineering.’

Social responsibility is a topic that all engineers need to understand but it is not an easy topic to define simply. Engineers are interested in solving problems by applying laws of science and the principals of engineering and mathematics. Not all students or practicing engineers approach technical problems with an emphasis on the ‘non-scientific’ or social aspects of a project. In fact many engineers need guidance to feel comfortable with aspects that can often be perceived as ‘soft’.

Vallero and Vesilind have set out to create a book which is a guide to understanding the ethical challenges of engineering projects from both a technical and social perspective. The book provides a wealth of tools for evaluating projects and assessing risk to the communities affected.

This book is different from others covering ethical and social issues due to the historical and philosophical foundations presented and most importantly the extensive case studies from all disciplines of engineering. These include practical examples of investigations, resolutions and further discussions regarding the issues raised by the case study. These practical engineering problems and case studies are the strength of this book. The index lists separately the topics and names of the case studies; and the names of key scientists, engineers and activists who have contributed to the growing understanding of environmental justice. This book has provided bibliographical sketches of these key people. Each chapter provides references and notes on where to obtain further information.

This book will help engineers gain a deeper understanding of how engineering affects society and in particular those parts of society that are under-represented or have little political clout. The authors believe that engineers have a responsibility to try and make the world a better place.

Vallero and Vesilind are professors at Duke University (adjunct) and Bucknell University respectively. They have significant experience in ethics, environmental research, government policy, environmental justice, risk assessment, and engineering education.

Reviewed by Julia Lamborn is the Director Industry Liaison, Program Coordinator Civil Engineering at Swinburne University in Melbourne. She is a member of Environmental Engineering College, Congress and Victorian Division Committee of Engineers Australia and the editor of “The Environmental Engineer”, the national journal for the Society of Sustainability and Environmental Engineering

Socially Responsible Engineer is available from EA Books, http://www.engineersmedia.com.au/bookshop