Project management is a business endeavor that has always been taken on a case-by-case basis. As opposed to the standard ongoing tasks of an organization, projects are by definition temporary and unique, however huge they may be. This leads to difficulty when experts try to formalize methodologies, or write books such as this one. Despite the existence of organizations claiming to have created standardized and accepted protocols and methods, and offering courses and certifications, project management studies such as this must necessarily remain at a high level. Here, Kim Heldman covers the areas that are important to any project, from initiating project plans all the way through to executing and closing out the project, with solid real-world knowledge. The problem is that the necessary high-level focus of the discipline results in a lot of standard business methods that will seem like second nature to experienced managers of any stripe. Meanwhile the chapters on scheduling and budgeting, by far the most nitty-gritty portions of a project plan, are so high-level (once again, because of the wide variety of real world situations) that they offer little real practical knowledge. This is still a very useful guide for project managers near the beginning of their careers. But what you'll ultimately learn is that the discipline of project management is dynamic and variable enough to make guides like this mostly good for high concepts and loose guidelines. [~doomsdayer520~]