Copyright © 2007 ISACA. All rights reserved. www.isaca.org.
Effective Project Management—
Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme
By Robert K. Wysocki
Reviewed by A Rafeq, CISA, CIA, CQA, CFE, FCA
P
roject management is critical for every enterprise.
Businesses must be able to quickly and reliably
implement new products and introduce organizational
changes that enhance and sustain business profitability.
Competent, responsible project managers are key to the
success of these projects. IT governance and assurance
professionals must have a good understanding of the concepts
and practices of project management. As the techniques have
evolved with changes in business processes and the increasing
use of automation, it is important for professionals to stay up
to date.
In the book Effective Project Management—Traditional,
Adaptive, Extreme, Robert K. Wysocki provides an excellent
exposition about various types of project management and
walks the reader through different steps of managing a project
from conception to completion to postimplementation review.
The book is a useful reference guide, not only for
professionals and practitioners of project management, but
also for IT governance and IT assurance professionals.
The author identifies three primary reasons for writing
this book:
• To come to the rescue of project management by ensuring its
alignment with the needs of business
• To introduce the adaptive project framework (APF)
• To offer a practical how-to guide for project managers
The book successfully meets these objectives.
Wysocki rightly identifies the challenges of business and
changes in the business environment in the introductory
chapter by noting:
Traditional project management practices (TPM) were
defined and later matured in the world of the
engineer and construction professional, where the
team expected (and got) a clear statement from clients
as to what they wanted, when they wanted it and how
much they were willing to pay for it. All of this was
delivered to the project manager wrapped in a neat
package…One of the major problems that TPM faced
and still faces is the difference between wants and
needs. Technology has put most businesses in a state
of confusion. The discipline of project management
has morphed to a new state.
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He exhorts readers to open their minds
to the basic principles on which project
management is based, to accommodate
change and avoid wasted money and time.
The chapter titled What Is a Project?
defines a project as a sequence of unique,
complex and connected activities having
one goal or purpose that must be
completed by a specific time, within budget and according to
specifications. The author illustrates this definition through its
various stages and components by providing useful tips and
templates for ready use.
The book explains the wide gap between the traditional
approach and the newer agile approaches and makes a case for
using the new APF approach, which incorporates many of the
tools and processes of the TPM. The distinction between TPM
and APF is explained as follows:
TPM projects follow a very detailed plan that is built
before any work is done on the project. The plan is
based on the assumption that the goal (that is, the
solution) is clearly specified at the outset. The success
of this approach is based on correct specification of
the goal during project definition and the initial
scoping activities. APF projects follow a detailed
plan, but the plan is not built at the beginning of the
project. Instead the plan is built in stages at the
completion of each cycle that defines the APF project
life cycle. An APF project finishes in less time and
with less cost than a TPM project.
The book consists of three parts organized into 21 chapters,
an epilog and two appendices. The author has followed the
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) standards
advocated by the Project Management Institute.
The first part, which comprises a significant portion of the
book, covers the traditional project management approach and
includes chapters on the project management landscape;
defining a project; building the work-breakdown structure;
estimating duration, resource requirements and cost;
constructing and analyzing the project network diagram;
finalizing the schedule and cost based on resource availability;
building and managing an effective project team; monitoring
and reporting project progress; closing out the project; and
critical chain project management.
The second part of the book provides an overview of the
APF and includes chapters on version scope, cycle plan, cycle
build, client checkpoint, postversion review, extreme project
1
 management and other variations to APF. A Rafeq, CISA, CIA, CQA, CFE, FCA
The third part of the book covers organizational is a senior partner of A Rafeq and Associates, specializing in
considerations and includes chapters on project portfolio IT assurance and IT governance services. He has been a
management and project support office. It also includes two pioneer in using and promoting COBIT across Asia. He has
appendices that include references to resources on the used COBIT extensively for various IS assurance and IT
publisher’s web site regarding this topic and a useful consulting assignments, and he has led workshops on COBIT
bibliography and index. implementation at conferences around the world. Rafeq is past
There are two case studies covered in the book, which could president of the ISACA Bangalore Chapter. He has been a
have been more complex and more relevant to the challenges volunteer for ISACA’s CISA Review Manual, chairman
faced in a typical large-scale enterprise. Further, the book would of ISACA’s Governmental and Regulatory Agencies (GRA)
have benefited from including templates for each step of project Task Force in Asia, and a member of ISACA’s
management at the end of each chapter or as a download, so the Publications Committee.
concepts explained could be readily used.
Nonetheless, the book is helpful as both a reference guide
and a how-to book on project management. It has been written
in a simple style without any jargon, and Wysocki presents
relevant information in a very systematic way.
Wysocki has more than 38 years of experience as a project
management consultant and trainer, information systems
manager, systems and management consultant, author, and
training developer and provider. He has written more than 10
books on project management and information systems
management.

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© 2007 ISACA. All rights reserved.

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