When Fortune Magazine estimated that 70% of all strategies fail, it also noted that most of these strategies were basically sound, but could not be executed. The central premise of Strategic Project Management Made Simple is that most projects and strategies never get off the ground because of adhoc, haphazard, and obsolete methods used to turn their ideas into coherent and actionable plans. Strategic Project Management Made Simple is the first book to couple a step-by-step process with an interactive thinking tool that takes a strategic approach to designing projects and action initiatives. Strategic Project Management Made Simple builds a solid platform upon four critical questions that are vital for teams to intelligently answer in order to create their own strong, strategic foundation. These questions are: 1. What are we trying to accomplish and why? 2. How will we measure success? 3. What other conditions must exist? 4. How do we get there? This fresh approach begins with clearly understanding the what and why of a project - comprehending the bigger picture goals that are often given only lip service or cursory reviews. The second and third questions clarify success measures and identify the risky assumptions that can later cause pain if not spotted early. The how questions - what are the activities, budgets, and schedules - comes last in our four-question system. By contrast, most project approaches prematurely concentrate on the how without first adequately addressing the three other questions. These four questions guide readers into fleshing out a simple, yet sophisticated, mental workbench called "the Logical Framework" - a Systems Thinking paradigm that lays out one's own project strategy in an easily accessible, interactive 4x4 matrix. The inclusion of memorable features and concepts (four critical questions, LogFrame matrix, If-then thinking, and Implementation Equation) make this book unique.

This second edition of the Strategic Project Leader prepares project managers to develop leadership competencies that translate into increased confidence to lead in a demanding environment. Like the first edition, this book motivates readers to take ownership of their leadership agenda and become disciplined in the processes of building a framework of leadership skills. This in turn will move readers beyond the basics of project management to true project leadership, positioning themselves for greater leadership opportunities.

As an executive, your organization may have limited resources. This book will instruct you and your leadership teams on implementing strategy through identifying, selecting, prioritizing, resourcing, and governing an optimal work portfolio. You’ll learn how to sponsor every project stage, as well as leading project managers as direct reports. Detailed advice is given for developing project management competency and utilizing input from customers, employees, and processes. You’ll learn how your organization can capitalize upon information technology to become competitive and to effectively implement business strategies, as well as how to make portfolio and project decisions using both qualitative and quantitative data and reliable analysis methods.

Learn to plan and execute projects in any organization with this practical and insightful resource The comprehensively updated and revised edition of Strategic Project Management Made Simple cements this series’ status as the leading resource for anyone looking for step-by-step guidance on project design and action initiatives. Written by celebrated management consultant Terry Schmidt, this book fully covers the necessity of systems thinking and the logical framework approach to solve today’s challenging problems. Strategic Project Management Made Simple also includes: An expanded section on turning ideas, problems, and opportunities into projects A newly created chapter on managing your “inner game” to achieve project excellence Fresh case studies that cover how to pivot your business to meet changing needs A new approach, Iterating to Excellence, to create your Minimum Viable Project and produce solutions smoother and faster Strategic Project Management Made Simple, Revised and Updated is an indispensable volume for leaders and workers seeking to transform their approach to planning, driving, and executing projects in their organizations.

As executives build and nurture their organization’s strategic agility in today’s turbulent, uncertain business environment, the ability to lead strategic change has become more critical than ever. The Strategic Project Leader: Mastering Service-Based Project Leadership, Second Edition will help project managers lead with confidence in temporary, ambiguous team structures that execute risk-laden work in an increasingly agile project environment. Like the first edition, this edition encourages readers to take ownership of their leadership agenda and become disciplined in the processes of building a framework of leadership skills. Readers are introduced to a new role: the service-based project leader. This role serves the entire project organization by creating a meaningful experience for team members, customers, and critical stakeholders. The book provides practical guidance to help you move from project manager to service-based project leader. Detailing a framework for developing and refining leadership skills, it explains how to build a leadership competency pyramid and then execute a self-directed plan for building leadership competencies. The leadership competency pyramid includes an intuitive model that will be helpful to project managers at any level. The book elaborates on the components of each layer of the pyramid and how each layer relates to the others. A chapter is dedicated to each layer of the pyramid, with supporting evidence for the necessity of each of these layers, as well as practical advice on how to build and practice these component layers.

In today's challenging commercial environment, many business projects are now categorized as strategic investment with the primary concern being value impact on an organization's bottom line. This title equips project managers with the skills necessary to effectively manage projects as strategic investments.

* The first book to truly apply the theory, processes, practices, and techniques of project management to strategic planning * New to this edition: risk management, earned value, project recovery, project maturity models, partnering, PM certification, and much more