Welcome to our Top Lean Reads series of posts. In this week's post, we share our top books on cost of delay and project economic modeling. So, without delay, here's our recommended reading list...
Top Lean Books: The cost of delay and project economic modeling
The purpose of product development is to make profit. The amount of profit realized is impacted by tradeoff decisions made during the project lifecycle.
Taking the time to develop a project economic model is worth the effort as it provides meaningful, objective data to aid in understanding the impact of project decisions on profit. Project managers, resource managers and team members alike will benefit from having an understanding of the cost of delaying launch and project economic modeling.
Risk and Decision Analysis in Projects (Cases in project and program management series) by John R. Schuyler
"Is there anything more important to the success of a project than making good decisions? This skill is certainly at or near the top of the list. Yet, few of us have had formal training in decision making. Decision analysis is the discipline that helps people choose wisely under conditions of uncertainty. This book introduces risk and decision analysis applied to project management..."
Managing the Design Factory, by Donald G. Reinertsen
"Managing the Design Factory combines the powerful analytical tools of queuing, information, and system theories with the proven ideas of organization design and risk management. The result: a methodical approach to consistently hit the "sweet spot" of quality, cost, and time in developing any product. Reinertsen illustrates these concepts with concrete examples drawn from his work with many leading companies across different industries.Fresh and thought-provoking, the book challenges many of the conventional approaches to product development..."
The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development, by Donald G. Reinertsen
At Accuer, our business depends on helping successful product developers become even better. We need to provide real results, quickly, in lots of different areas. Because we need to stay at the leading edge, I've studied and read almost every book on lean product development; this one is better than the rest of them combined! Why? It's a unique combination of practical methods and clear explanations of the science that makes them work. If you've enjoyed Don's previous books as much as I have, you're guaranteed like this one." ----David W. Paulson, President Accuer, Inc.
Download the reading list here.
