Editor’s Rating: 7.2

Editor’s Note: This review is a fourth entry in a series of weekly e-book reviews.  The review is by Thursday Bram of ThursdayBram.com.

Reading Stephen Smith’s free e-book, “Project Planning in Context,” I was continuously struck by a sense of potential. Sure, Smith’s book didn’t have the spit and polish of some of the e-books out there. At the same time, however, “Project Planning in Context” got the job done.

Essentially, Smith’s e-book is a good primer — an introduction to the idea of planning out a project by considering its context. At the very least, Smith saves his readers from slogging through years of posts on the subject from people like Merlin Mann. Smith clearly covers the pertinent details and avoids unnecessary length. More importantly, “Project Planning in Context” fills a niche: there are, after all, an unbelievable number of e-books on the general topic of productivity, but far fewer resources that cover the topic of planning large projects effectively.

My critiques of Smith’s e-book and, to a significantly lesser extent, his blog mostly relate to a few simple issues that practice will move him past, most crucially Smith’s use of examples. I’m all for the inclusion of examples — people tend to learn better with them. However, I want examples I can relate to. Smith’s use of examples like the Big Dig in Boston frustrated me: I’ve never been to Boston and I have no concept of the Big Dig. A better example of a project that has escaped its original parameters might be the current U.S. involvement in Iraq.

That said, Smith shows incredible potential as a writer. His explanations of the various context of projects, and the links between them — a topic routinely ignored by project planning gurus — are clear and concise, two of the most important qualities can have. He brought in ideas from David Allen and even corporate America and still created a cohesive whole. While I might argue that smaller scale projects don’t need the sort of contextualized planning Smith describes, he does make the process clear, down to the creation of an actual plan, complete with calendars, project outlines and flexibility.

The resources and exercises that Smith chose to include at the end of “Project Planning in Context” were also valuable — something that plenty of experienced writers struggle with. One question especially stood out for me: “How would a 12-year-old kid relate to this project?” Without a doubt, I believe that any large project should be broken down into steps a 12-year-old could manage, if only to guarantee that if you hire your 12-year-old, he’ll be able to keep up.

Overall, “Project Planning in Context” is a good introduction to the topic of contextualized planning. I expect great things of Stephen Smith in the future.

[tags]project planning, ebook, e-book, review, book review, e-book review[/tags]