Art of Scott Berkun
August 18th, 2005 by Hal
I've been meaning to write about the art of project management for quite some time. No need for me to do something that Scott Berkun has done so well. His book, The Art of Project Management, is unlike any other book on the market. Scott understands something that most project managers fail to grasp. Developing proficiency is not a matter of knowing techniques and engineering. Proficiency develops with practice, by making mistakes, taking on challenging work, and by learning at the feet of others.
I spent some time reading the 15 reviews at Amazon before writing this post to grasp the sensibility readers have about the book. The reviewers capture the value of the book, but for the most part, miss what makes this book special. Scott writes about project management in an incredibly personal voice. He writes about what all good project managers know: projects are about people.
Most of us are quite familiar with Scott's art using the product of his work to read this posting. Scott led the development of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4 and 5. Whether or not you like IE, his team's work has shaped our lives. Scott no longer works at Microsoft, however his art continues in his book, his essays, and the generous way he engages with readers and visitors to his website scottberkun.com/. Take a look at the sample chapter. And don't miss his essays and berkunblog.
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August 23rd, 2005 at 1:21 pm
I’d agree. He takes a very human approach; I really appreciate that he says “This is what you should do and need to cover”, not “This best practice will save you” or “This is the only way to do things”. It allows a lot of latitude to figure out what secret sauce works well on your projects. I appreciate that.