Book Title: Reinventing Project Management
Author: Aaron Shenhar & Dov Dvir
Excellent book with some real useful insights on setting up the project lifecycle properly, taking into consideration the specific objectives of the project and the circumstances surrounding the project. The book is based on the well known fact that not all projects are treated or managed equally or the same. Some projects require focus on some aspects more than other aspects of project management.
I like that the authors went beyond generalities and talked in enough details about how to take this fact and apply it on actual projects.
I also liked the diamond approach, even though I do not think it is entirely new. The principles in this approach are valid but have been around for a while.However, putting them in one integrated model and elaborating how to apply the model in real projects was a plus.
The focus on the relationship between technical aspects of the project, along with meeting project objectives, and how both play a role in influencing a project lifecycle was very useful.
One specific tip I felt is useful is the idea of building rapid prototypes to help illicit requirements and ensure customer knows what to expect from the project, especially on project deliverables that are not familiar to the customer.
I actually used some of the ideas in the book to help me setup a project lifecycle for one of my customers in a way that accommodates different categories of projects they handle.It worked quite well.