The Deadline: A Novel About Project Management

This is an amusing way to absorb some great project management tips. It's a bit outdated since it is exclusively focused on Waterfall project management rather than Agile but there are a lot of good lessons to be learned about how to manage people, resource allocation, scheduling, etc. At the end of each chapter the main character writes in his journal about his lessons for the day and they're wise. Some of the plot is over-the-top ridiculous but it works in this context.

For those who are up to PM it gives a picture of how to. For book eaters would surely be engaging and relaxing.

The book was spot on for the period for which it was written. Many aspects of it, regarding managing people and teams, motivation and productivity still are. Other aspects regarding development process are less relevant in today's fast paced Framework-rich development environments, where protracted up front Requirements and Design activities (read: "Waterfall") have been superseded by more iterative, agile approaches.The second criticism I have is that as a novel it is too simplistic. The characters are one dimensional and the situations overly simplistic. The book similar in many ways to Goldratt's "Critical Chain" and "The Goal". Goldratt was there first...

The story illustrates experience I personally got in my near past becoming an engineering team leader. The so called “default” behavior and very usual cases described here are giving a picture aside from what I’ve seen and felt by myself. Exactly what is needed for finding next steps to grow better.

It is a nice walk thru of management/project management concepts in the guise of a story. It was a bit of a page turner for me as I couldn't wait to see what happened next in the story.

This book was a surprise. It was assigned to my daughter, in one of her college classes. I am a public health professor. I took it by chance, read it and like it very much.. I liked the idea of conceiveing a fiction book as a tool to teach soft concepts. The book is non-sense and funny, and it reaches its objectives. I learn many interesting things about projects management.. As a teacher, I would like to congratulate the author.

This book is really funny.It has the same feel as the Richest Man in Babylon.I really enjoyed it -- and it has held up pretty well over the test of time.Gives you lots of things to think about.All in all a solid book.

Liked the novel. Basic but important PM points to consider though, mostly if you work with team members from different cultures. Good for entry level persons or brand new to Project Management as novel is easy to understand from PM perspective.

Good read to kill the time. Nice ideas but some might not exactly work in real life. Recommended reading though

Die Erkennntisse zum Projektmanagement und die Tatsäche, dass ein Projekt sich nicht dadurch beschleunigen lässt, indem man einfach mehr Personen damit beschäftigt, sind für mich absolut nachvollziehbar.Ich nutzte das Buch, um meine Englischkenntnisse für den Beruf aufzupolieren und auch dafür war es hervorragend geeignet.Ein Sachbucn mit Romanhandlung im Projektmanagementumfeld - absolut gelungen!

A timeless book including very nice insights for any manager/project manager in software development.Only 4 stars because of two things:1. copying a software product is a bad example for a strategy to build a successful product, you will fail.2. the part with the long design phases before programming, well we are into agile software development right now!Still a "should read" in 2013.

This book and the message behind is amazing and much more than all science specific books can give you. The novell was able to transport the things you need beside the tool, processes and structure to lead a project sucsessful. the philosopy behind the work, the human and your self in project. Its worth to read!

Super Buch, genialer Inhalt und extrem gut leserlich. Selten habe ich ein fachliches Thema so anschaulich und in Form on leichter Kost vermittelt erhalten. In Anbetracht der netten Story sollte man dein sehr gehaltvollen Inhalt einfach nicht überlesen oder zu leicht hinnehmen.Kurz: Eine absolute Pflichtlektüre für alle in einem IT-Projekt involvierten (insbesondere natürlich alle Projektleiter)Einziger Punkt: Ein zusammenfassendes Kapitel am Ende hätte das Buch vollends perfektioniert.