Most tech books are what they are: a boring logical take on a topic we've all covered a few times already. Disappointment at the hours you can't get back for the time you just spent reading a book that didn't really offer you anything new.
And then there are others that cover a timely topic and manage to both keep it cutting edge and interesting. My latest find falls into that category, thankfully. The title is “Digital Project Practice - Managing Innovation and Change" and it is a collaboration of work from 13 top authors and experts in related fields...
What is actually meant by Digital Project Practice?
What does Digital Project Practice mean? You could define it like this: Digital Project Practice is the (applied) art and science of managing technology related projects from concept to completion, within budget and using a certain amount of resources. It involves planning, delegating, tracking, reviewing, and measuring results — often done using project management software. The goal of every project is different, but the overarching objective is to grow business and see valuable ROI from the project. Types of projects can range from online projects to streamlining complex enterprise processes.
This book dedicates a good 25+ pages right out of the gate on a pet peeve of mine on the topic of failed projects, what the perceptions are of project success and failure and is it really failure. I won't give any of it away, but it is great material and great thoughts on the subject. If you're a seasoned PM professional you'll know the frustration surrounding the notion of project failures and successes...
If there’s one thing I’ve learned through the popularity of some of my own articles is this – focusing on PM problems and challenges and trying to address how we meet those problems and challenges is something that really resonates with the readers. This book definitely does a great job of presenting this type of material surrounding digital projects and you'll be left in a better position to deal with challenges of project change. I’m not saying that misery loves company – but I am saying that we all face these challenges as project managers just about every single day and any material like this is something an experienced PM looking to manage their next project better can devour and use to extract good, practical and helpful strategic info. You’ll enjoy these pages… trust me.
Great quote from later in the book when discussing some essential reading on managing diverse teams. “Project management is not a profession but an essential skill in achieving career success.” Nailed it – perfectly sums up how PM is really much more than a profession – it's more like a way of life and a way to manage your career over the long term. Great read.
Pros
The pros for me in this book are personal and professional preferences. It does a nice job out of the gate coming from a personal perspective from each author using experiences they've had along the way. That allows you to immediately connect with the authors and that's how I've always liked to connect with my readers over the years.
Also, all concepts about Digital Project Practice are discussed mostly in a team concept which I find to be a necessary project management view. Project Managers are essential - in my opinion - but the success, failure, communication and progress is a team function... not an individual. Good job.
The pros list could be much longer – and it is – but this review isn't meant to be the size of a book itself, so I will stick to three. You'll leave with a good understanding of how Digital Project Practice fits into to today's PM world and where it's going tomorrow. I consider that essential to really being useful as we are growing and learning and working to be more successful project managers.
Cons
There really aren't any in this book. The only one possibly being that it is a more technical rather than casual read for the average reader of this type of material. Don't get me wrong it is still a personal and experience-based presentation from each other. But that's likely just me as I've been writing more casual and from the hip type articles and ebooks for a dozen years – rarely more third person type content other than a few white papers here and there. It's more my style and that's just me. What it lacks in casual reading it makes up for in content, detail and useful insight.
Key Takeaways
This book is applicable to any level of experience for the project manager. New, very experienced, interested in PM – all levels will enjoy it and find their own information to take forward and use today and beyond... and keep referring back to this work for helpful information and insight for future successes. It's an excellent and relevant collection of thoughts from several experts in the field all in one place. Win. I highly recommend this book and you'll find yourself going back to it often.
And then there are others that cover a timely topic and manage to both keep it cutting edge and interesting. My latest find falls into that category, thankfully. The title is “Digital Project Practice - Managing Innovation and Change" and it is a collaboration of work from 13 top authors and experts in related fields...
- Aditya Chandak - Group Product Manager at Walmart eCommerce
- Dr. Majid Dadgar - Assistant Professor of Business Analytics & Information Systems at University of San Francisco
- Ralf Dick - Freelance Agile Consultant
- Elena Dinman - CEO / Founder at Myfreedom IT School
- Dr. Tobias Endress - Freelance Business Consultant
- Günter Jeschke - Consultant at 1st solution consulting
- Dr. Stephan Meyer - Consultant Digital Transformation at www.denkstelle.com
- Dr. Marc Nathmann - Legal Counsel and Attorney at Law, ING Germany
- Dr. Anton Pussep - Project Leader IT at VNR Press
- Girish Ramachandra - Senior Manager at Wipfli LLP
- Beatriz Alzate Richter - Senior Product Owner at Yara Digital Lab
- Dr. Bernd Thommes - Managing Partner at Antal Germany
- Patric Zeier - Consultant, Mediator, Coach, Senior Project Manager
What is actually meant by Digital Project Practice?
What does Digital Project Practice mean? You could define it like this: Digital Project Practice is the (applied) art and science of managing technology related projects from concept to completion, within budget and using a certain amount of resources. It involves planning, delegating, tracking, reviewing, and measuring results — often done using project management software. The goal of every project is different, but the overarching objective is to grow business and see valuable ROI from the project. Types of projects can range from online projects to streamlining complex enterprise processes.
This book dedicates a good 25+ pages right out of the gate on a pet peeve of mine on the topic of failed projects, what the perceptions are of project success and failure and is it really failure. I won't give any of it away, but it is great material and great thoughts on the subject. If you're a seasoned PM professional you'll know the frustration surrounding the notion of project failures and successes...
If there’s one thing I’ve learned through the popularity of some of my own articles is this – focusing on PM problems and challenges and trying to address how we meet those problems and challenges is something that really resonates with the readers. This book definitely does a great job of presenting this type of material surrounding digital projects and you'll be left in a better position to deal with challenges of project change. I’m not saying that misery loves company – but I am saying that we all face these challenges as project managers just about every single day and any material like this is something an experienced PM looking to manage their next project better can devour and use to extract good, practical and helpful strategic info. You’ll enjoy these pages… trust me.
Great quote from later in the book when discussing some essential reading on managing diverse teams. “Project management is not a profession but an essential skill in achieving career success.” Nailed it – perfectly sums up how PM is really much more than a profession – it's more like a way of life and a way to manage your career over the long term. Great read.
Pros
The pros for me in this book are personal and professional preferences. It does a nice job out of the gate coming from a personal perspective from each author using experiences they've had along the way. That allows you to immediately connect with the authors and that's how I've always liked to connect with my readers over the years.
Also, all concepts about Digital Project Practice are discussed mostly in a team concept which I find to be a necessary project management view. Project Managers are essential - in my opinion - but the success, failure, communication and progress is a team function... not an individual. Good job.
The pros list could be much longer – and it is – but this review isn't meant to be the size of a book itself, so I will stick to three. You'll leave with a good understanding of how Digital Project Practice fits into to today's PM world and where it's going tomorrow. I consider that essential to really being useful as we are growing and learning and working to be more successful project managers.
Cons
There really aren't any in this book. The only one possibly being that it is a more technical rather than casual read for the average reader of this type of material. Don't get me wrong it is still a personal and experience-based presentation from each other. But that's likely just me as I've been writing more casual and from the hip type articles and ebooks for a dozen years – rarely more third person type content other than a few white papers here and there. It's more my style and that's just me. What it lacks in casual reading it makes up for in content, detail and useful insight.
Key Takeaways
This book is applicable to any level of experience for the project manager. New, very experienced, interested in PM – all levels will enjoy it and find their own information to take forward and use today and beyond... and keep referring back to this work for helpful information and insight for future successes. It's an excellent and relevant collection of thoughts from several experts in the field all in one place. Win. I highly recommend this book and you'll find yourself going back to it often.
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