October/November 2005

Volume 46, Number 2

Book Review: Herding Chickens: Innovative Techniques for Project Management

by Deb Lockwood

Herding Chickens: Innovative Techniques for Project Management
Dan Bradbary and David Garrett. 2005. San Francisco: Harbor Light Press. [ISBN: 0-7821-4383-0. 271 pages. $29.95 (paperback).] http://www.herdingchickens.com

Last month I received a tip from a fellow STC member about a new book on project management. The title of the book and the book's cover were intriguing enough to persuade me to make the purchase. And after I started reading it, I purchased a second copy and sent it to my manager for Boss's Day.

Herding Chickens: Innovative Techniques for Project Management is a different take on managing people and projects. Although the authors do pay homage to The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), published by the Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org), you will not in any way confuse their ideas and tips with the approach you find in the PMBOK.

Here are the authors' own words: "(A)s fond as we are of the PMBOK, and as much as we believe in its value, Herding Chickens is different. It's a fun, funny, often irreverent look at some of the least-used (but most useful) notions in running projects. It's an oddball collection of tips and tricks for PMs, managers, and plain old workers who are willing to bend the rules to get things done."

The book includes the following chapters:

• Introduction: Squawk
• Chapter 1: Building the Killer Project Team
• Chapter 2: Perfect Planning Makes Perfect
• Chapter 3: Tips Not Typically Taught
• Chapter 4: Surviving the Corporate Jungle
• Chapter 5: The Perfect Meeting
• Chapter 6: Awesome Technology
• Appendix: The Chicken Herder's Toolkit

Co-author Dan Bradbary has been a project manager for 30 years. He is the founder and owner of Project Management Services, Inc., a project management firm. David Garrett (not our STCRMC David Garrett, by the way) is the technology guru of the team and uses his expertise to show how to use intranets and extranets for the benefit of your entire project team.

An added bonus is that templates for all of the forms in the Chicken Herder's Toolkit appendix are available online at no additional charge at www.herdingchickens.com.

If you are looking for a new slant on the old project management topic, Herding Chickens may be just the thing.