"YES" The Most Dangerous Word in Project Management

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book can be read start to finish, or used as a reference.

If you're reading it for the first time, read it in order. Part I establishes why this problem exists and

why it's harder to see than it should be. Part II gives it a precise vocabulary. Part III is where the

tools live — if you only have time for one section, make it this one. Part IV addresses the psychology

on the other side of every conversation. Part V and VI turn the ideas into something a team, not just

an individual, can use.

If you're returning to this book with a specific problem in front of you, go straight to Chapter 16's

scenario bank, or to the Tailpiece's cheat sheets — both are built to be used without re-reading the

chapters that produced them.

Every chapter ends with the same five elements: a Key Insight, a short set of Takeaways, three

reflective questions under Ask Yourself, one action under Try This Tomorrow, and a pointer to

where the next framework builds on this one. Use them as a fast way to extract the chapter's value

without re-reading the whole thing.

One note on language: this book uses "Project Manager" throughout as shorthand for the full range

of Project Management Professionals it's written for — Program Managers, PMO leads, Project

Coordinators, Project Controls professionals, consultants, Business Analysts, Product Managers,

and anyone else who carries this kind of decision on a project. Wherever you see "Project

Manager, " read it as your own title.