Death March (2nd Edition) Subsequent Edition

The longer I work in the IT field, the more books like this become more valuable. It used to be that 30%-40% of the projects that I worked on would be "Death Marches", now its around 70%. The political games, personality problems and poor planning issues are all covered in this book plus ways to handle them. I recommend this book to anyone who has to work in IT, or manage any type of project.

It's evident the author draws from a broad array of his own and his associates' involvement with software projects from which much is asked but to which little is given. Most of his insight and suggestions are of use primarily to managers who intermediate between sponsors (doing the asking) and the technical team (being asked to deliver). He frankly assess the forces at play and lays out various strategies and tactics that may be available, and the tradeoffs involved.I find the book weak in several ways. It quotes a lot of personal e-mail, some of which adds value, but the full text of many long e-mail messages are included in appendices, which seem to occupy an an unduly large number of pages in a relatively short book. "The Dynamics of Processes" chapter seems like more filler, skeletally describing an interesting but thoroughly academic approach to modeling organizational behavior that seems practically infeasible for a typical project manager, of dubious use to such a person in the first place, and much less worthwhile to someone under the immediate pressure of the sort of project in question. Finally, belying the provocative title, the book actually seems to endorse a certain kind of "Death March" it calls a "Mission: Impossible" project, which seems rather incongruous terminologically to say the least.

What may seem a little dated by some is actually as relevant today as it was when first published. Ed understood his topic and his subjects much better than they could ever have. I gave this as a gift to a first-time, young project lead and as predicted, the project is now in dire shape. Did he read and heed Yourdan's cautions. that is debatable but one thing is for sure, all project eventually have some or all of the components addressed in the book and project/program managers/leaders need to read and heed!

I read the first edition years ago -- after the fact. I had just survived [barely] my first death march project, and I thought it offered some good, retrospective advice. It helped me recognize at the very least, a death march project when I see one. Reading the second edition reminded me of what I disliked about the first. The raw emails serving as end notes to each chapter are quite repetitious and in need, perhaps, of editing.The new chapters however, are worth the price of admission, and offer lots of fresh perspectives and eminently practical advice.I recommend this book for anyone who is a project manager by title, or who is the de-facto lead on software projects, or wants to be, or may have this sort of greatness thrust upon them.

Your latest horror project was no coincidence but there are systemic reasons that let projects gravitate towards disaster.And because of these systemic causes, there is a chance for preemptive actions.This book describes the pain and the learning from the pain.Read it and pass it on - as I did.

I couldn't finish it. I bought it because I was hooked on the author back in the early 80's and thought he was a genius. Maybe he should stick to pure textbooks. This was like a Death March, trying to read it. You know something is wrong when you are just trying to 'get through it'. I was looking for solutions to projects that become a Death March, peppered with anecdotes. I guess I'm too myopic for my own good. I couldn't believe one of his suggestions was to quit your job. Maybe that is often possible in your universe, not mine buddy. I have deep roots and family that I take care of here. The company that employs me is the only game in town that will pay six figures for what I do. Quitting is not an option. Having been on my share of projects that became a Death March, I was hoping that the Savior of Structured Programming and Design would provide a better escape route. I'll be donating this book to the library.

I bought this book when it came out in '97. I had read Yourdon's works in college and the title just caught my eye. Well, here it is folks - the year 2000 and some things just don't change. For those of you who have ever been on a death march project, it may have you saying "Has Yourdon been spying on ME at the office? :). It's good to know someone else can relate to what we software development folks go through when we're drafted into one of those blasted things. It's got the humor and important points all in the right mix. This is a must have!

Another class done and one more closer to my husband having his degree done. Hope were able to find the rest of the books as easy.

I like how this book classifies death march projects and then explains how you can manage them (as someone being asked to work on one, or as someone being asked to run one).

good to read that I am not the only one. Enables one to `stand back` and question whether their project exhibits any of these characteristics. padded with emails which detracts from the content. Probably only a short read if emails (sources) are not read.

It seems that all projects nowadays are death marches, and this book nails death marches. So if you are involved in commercial software development, read this.

Very good reading for anyone in the tech field. A must own.

Classic