Making It Happen: A Non-Technical Guide to Project Management

2.3. What is the Problem?

"Why, that's wonderful, Will!" Jenny told me. She obviously wasn't getting the message.

I tried telling her again. "But my future is riding on this project! And so is Stu's. Remember him? He's my boss. You like him!"

Jenny is my wife. She's a great person, and I value her opinion above just about anyone else's. But she is not terribly sympathetic. She has crazy ideas about dealing with problems in a rational way. Tonight, for example. The whole drive home (which, admittedly, is only about ten minutes since I live on the outskirts of Darfield, the next town over from Enderby) I had been looking forward to complaining about my troubles and then listening to her appropriately sympathetic noises. As usual, she was not playing her part.

"Look, hon," she continued, "from everything you've told me, it seems like Stu made a great decision buying the rights to this product. It should be a great success!"

My wife's positive attitude is something I have always admired. She needs it in her job. Jenny is a freelance journalist.When we had Sarah, our first child, six years ago, Jenny and I decided to move out of the big city (then Baltimore) and live the small town life. We thought it would be better for the kids, and for us. By the time we had our son Jake three years later, I had managed to find the job with Hyler.

Moving to the country sounds like a really trendy thing to do, but we've never regretted it. Unfortunately, Jenny's career was harder hit than mine. Before ...