The Executive Guide to Breakthrough Project Management: Capital & Construction Projects; On-time in Less Time; On-budget at Lower Cost; Without Compromise

This book offers a good basic explanation of Critical Chain Project Management and a very little context.

A business book has two possible values - practical ideas you can immediately apply or concepts that make you think. Breakthrough Project Management has both. The authors - Heptinstall and Bolton - have decades of experience and success. They put forward, with great clarity, two ideas for drastically cutting the time duration and costs of major capex projects. One concept, with some useful details on the process to achieve it, is to have a group of contractors collaborate to take some responsibility for the end outcome of the project (on time, on budget, within scope), EVEN THOUGH each contractor is only doing a part of the project. They quote numerous cases where this has worked.The other concept is to ensure contractors are using a project management methodology that actually works and is proven with numerous cases to help deliver a project according to the project's goals. That methodology is Critical Chain. As the authors point out, even though Critical Chain is still in its infancy in terms of broad acceptance, it is gaining traction at such a rate that it appears to be past the tipping point.Choosing a low bidder is fraught with risk. So why do GCs keep doing it? The authors take great pains to explain the current practices and the horrible resulting negative effects to projects. Better yet, they propose a solution. While I was uncomfortable with the thought of trying to get contractors to collaborate with each other, I can see that the authors have a way to make this work. I won't spoil the fun of telling you what that is - read the book to find out. But for me, when I found myself still somewhat resistant to their ideas about a Project Alliance, I remembered another idea that worked beautifully in Japan - forcing contractors to all use the same methodology (Critical Chain) so that at least each individual contractor was likely to finish their part of large projects on time, on budget and within scope.I believe that any GC or large capex project manager who doesn't read this book is throwing a lot of money in the garbage.

At first glance I thought this was another Critical Chain book, written as a 101 for project managers, but it's far more than that.First, it's aimed at large capital and construction projects where much (if not all) of the work is done by contractors, and where fixed-price bidding creates a lot of dysfunction and (counterintuitively) extra cost.Second, it builds on the logistical foundations of Eli Goldratt's Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM), by showing how to create collaborative ("win win") financial arrangements between the client and their contractors.It's a good book.It's well written.And it's short.

The media could not be loaded.  A very pertinent point of view that proposes a solution to an important blind spot in Critical Chain Project Management (projects in which much of the work is subcontracted). Excellent solution for Capital and Construction projects: Critical Chain + Collaborative teams.

Very good book. Easy to read. The part on subit contracting is really good and Being another point of view. Some regrets about budget and cost Accounting or Risk management not really described in the book as I expected. I Will recommend that book for those who have already good knowledge in CCPM and want to see a specific combination of it. Anthony Fouque.