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a book review by Hugh Woodward
“People…love to read stories. Stories attract and captivate, plus they are memorable.” So begins the fascinating book by Dr. Alexander Laufer, Todd Post, and Dr. Edward Hoffman entitled “Shared Voyage: Learning and Unlearning from Remarkable Projects”, published by NASA.
“Shared Voyage” is a collection of four case studies, two from NASA and two from the US Air Force, related in story form by the participants. We learn how the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile was rescued from almost cancellation, for example, by following the story through the eyes of Terry Little, Program Director; Larry Lawson, Vice President, Lockheed Martin; Brian Rutledge, Financial Manager; Lynda Rutledge, Systems Engineer; and Jackie Leitzel, Contracting Officer.
The authors claim three major objectives in writing “Shared Voyage”:
Project managers insist on starting anything, even a book like “Shared Voyage”, with a bulleted list of objectives.
But the book is also fascinating as an historical narrative. Anybody who has followed NASA or the US Air Force will enjoy reading the “inside stories” of four incredibly complex projects:
If you are interested in “unlearning” some outdated concepts of project management, or learning what happens behind the scenes at NASA, or simply reading some stories full of drama and suspense, this book is for you.
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