1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 OVERVIEW AND PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE

Project management is not new. It has been in use for hundreds of years. Examples of project outcomes include:

  • Pyramids of Giza,
  • Olympic games,
  • Great Wall of China,
  • Taj Mahal,
  • Publication of a children's book,
  • Panama Canal,
  • Development of commercial jet airplanes,
  • Polio vaccine,
  • Human beings landing on the moon,
  • Commercial software applications,
  • Portable devices to use the global positioning system (GPS), and
  • Placement of the International Space Station into Earth's orbit.

The outcomes of these projects were the result of leaders and managers applying project management practices, principles, processes, tools, and techniques to their work. The managers of these projects used a set of ...

Get A guide to the PROJECT MANAGEMENT BODY OF KNOWLEDGE (PMBOK Guide) now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial