If we are honest, we have all been there to greater or lesser degree: the project that went awry, or failed completely, for whatever reason. The one positive from such experiences is that we learn the lessons from them. Sometimes project failure is due to circumstances over which we have no control, but whatever the reasons, there is always something salutary to be learned, even if it is simply not to try that again. How much better to have the lessons before we even start and that is where this book fits. So, what do Apollo 13 and the Millennium Dome have in common? Simply, they are both used among the wide‐ranging examples in this book.
There are plenty of books about how to plan and manage projects. In our own field, we have Allan (2004) which gives us a good overview of tools and techniques, or MacLachlan (1996) which takes a very practical approach. These, and many other project management handbooks, give some indication of what might go wrong and how to tackle it, but here we have a book which looks specifically at project disasters: how they happen, what to learn from them, and, by implication, how to avoid them in the first place (assuming they are avoidable).
This is a very practical down‐to‐earth book, pulling no punches and stating clearly what might happen, what might be the consequences and advising just as clearly what to do, and what not to do, about them. It starts by persuading the reader actually to admit to disaster and stressing that blame is not always (in my own opinion is very rarely) culpable. The “whys” are then discussed and, although six main causes are discussed, the following section quite rightly points out that “It isn’t always that simple”. Learning from disasters is obviously covered, followed by three chapters on human resources, public relations and disaster and the organization.
Two positive chapters – “Triumph over adversity” and “Recipes and survival skills” – are followed by the negative – “What not to do”. The book is completed by two appendices: teams and stress. These give concise, clear and practical accounts of a project's components and its dynamics, and of the results, and signs, of a failure. A bibliography gives an eclectic selection of titles and a list of web sites. The overall result is to assist the reader to identify problems, apply appropriate diagnostic tools and remedies, support and lead teams when things are going wrong, and achieve positive outcomes from potential disasters.
Read the standard handbooks to learn how to do projects, but have this title at hand also to help you avoid serious errors in the first place, but more particularly to know how to deal with consequences and symptoms of project failure which might, or just as likely might not, be within your control. Also to help you decide what is a disaster, or not: an example they give is the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh which ran up costs a hundred (perhaps a thousand) percent above estimates and came in three years late: but Scotland did get an iconic and largely practical (until the pigeons arrived and then bits started falling off) building. Similarly, the Channel Tunnel was a financial disaster but an engineering success; and Apollo 13 got home without loss of life. This is a readable and thought‐provoking book which combines sound basic management theory with a range of real life examples and very practical advice. It is the kind of management text I like, and I thoroughly recommend it.
