This comprehensive exploration of the project management process presents the tools, steps, and processes of project management and uncovers the critical thinking -- the why -- vital to project management excellence. Incorporating Kepner-Tregoe?s renowned and effective problem-solving and decision-making processes, the book guides you through the core activities of project management?planning, solving problems, making decisions, and assessing risk. It positions projects within an organization?s "performance environment," an understanding of which is essential for effective team performance and alignment. Offering a combination of overarching insights into organizational dynamics, as well as specific processes and practices for effective management, this is a resource no project leader -- and no project team member -- should be without. The Rational Project Manager

"Change for business today is not a spectator sport. Translating strategic vision into bottom-line results requires discipline, execution, and participation-a theme that resonates throughout The Rational Project Manager. Longman and Mullins present a commonsense approach to executing against opportunities that is grounded in logic and resourcefulness."
-George W. Buckley Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brunswick Corporation

"The Rational Project Manager provides much-needed insights and tools for leaders at all levels. The bane of any leader's worklife is those initiatives that lack focus, engender poor decision making, and are misaligned with organizational culture and goals. Given the ambiguity, complexity, and change that are the new baseline assumptions in the workplace, The Rational Project Manager's simple, flexible approach fills an important gap overlooked by most books on the subject."
-Steve Schloss Vice President, Human Resources Time Inc.

"The Rational Project Manager does a terrific job of dealing with both the art and discipline of project management. It focuses on the critical thinking that is essential to project success and also provides a wide array of tools and techniques for driving up performance."
-John Case President and Chief Executive Officer Electrolux Home Care Products North America

"Significant projects frequently are planned and executed by cross-functional teams of people who don't normally work together. For a project to be completed successfully, the team and each team member must quickly develop both goal and role clarity. Kepner-Tregoe's rational process tools, including the project management tools well described in this book, have been critical to improving my organization's ability to execute projects and have become a core part of our culture."
-Ray Baxter President and Chief Executive Officer Interbake Foods LLC

"Half the trouble in modern life comes from ambitious projects gone awry. Some were not thought-through before they were embarked on. Others started with good intentions but fell apart when their leaders could not adapt to changing circumstances or keep their team moving toward the proper goal. The sensible principles laid out in this clear and useful book would go a long way toward making both public and private organizations more effective. Personally, I'd start by passing out copies throughout the U.S. government."
-James Fallows National Correspondent The Atlantic Monthly