Project Disasters

This book examines the causes of project failures and what can be learnt from them. It focuses on risk management - identifying risks and strategies to deal with them; how to support and lead project teams when things go wrong; how to turn a disaster into something positive and, importantly, guidance on what not to do. The emphasis is on learning lessons from mistakes that have occurred within previous projects, thus helping to avoid future disasters. Using a wide variety of real-world examples, the book looks at what those involved in the projects did after the event and how effective or otherwise this was in improving the outcome. Cases include: The Apollo 13 moon mission; Coca-Cola Dasani water; the Millennium Dome; the Millennium Bridge; the Channel Tunnel; the Beagle 2 Space Probe; and many more. "Identifies the causes of some well-known project failures and reveals what can be learned from them." -Reference & Research Book News, November 2005 "Entertainment and instruction are combined here...While insisting that there may be multiple causes of project failure, the authors have a useful tool when searching for the cause(s) of your disaster - the five Ms approach. These are: Man, Machine, Method, Material and Milieu. 'Nuff said, really." -Reading Chronicle, November 2005 "Examines what causes projects to fail and the lessons that can be learned from these failures in order to help avoid future disasters." Commerce & Industry, January 2006 "Meaty analysis of cause and potential solution, not to mention prevention, by far the best strategy naturally." Business Book Subscription "Chapters discuss why project disasters happen... learning from disasters, four stages of risk management, and four main recipes for survival. A final chapter summarizes what not to do." Future Survey "Provides advice to anyone involved in a project disaster - addressing how to make the best of the situation and how to increase the probability of a positive end result." Journal of Economic Literature