Working at Warp Speed: The New Rules for Project Success in a Sped-Up World

By Barry Flicker

Four simple laws of project management: "Everyone who must depend upon others to deliver results by a deadline should read this book." --Donald M. Dible, co-founder, ProjectWorld

Everyone is a project manager--projects are what all of us do, day in and day out. Skillful project management is fundamental to survival in today's warp-speed world. Yet it is often misunderstood, leading to unrealistic deadlines, poorly defined goals, and wasted time.

The secret to successful project management, says Barry Flicker, is making and keeping clear commitments--far easier said than done in a time of complex, cross-departmental projects and sometimes unclear lines of authority. Through a story about people confronting daily frustrations on the job, Flicker demonstrates how shifting focus from blaming "the idiots out there" to examining one's own behaviors and assumptions helps people to overcome obstacles. Working at Warp Speed shows how following four simple laws can transform workers' most frustrating complaints from persistent barriers into potential breakthrough experiences.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576751465
• ISBN13: 9781576751466
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Dilbert without Pictures

This book is about achieving project success at warp speed. Barry Flicker describes the various kinds of project team members and suggests the best ways to deal with them. Flicker uses stories to drive home his points beginning with: Many project teams fail at proper communication due to (perceived) lack of time. He describes the Four Rules of Warp Speed that can provide relief from the many frustrations. The secret is to know when and how to slow down and to include all the right people at the right times. Flicker is a gifted professional speaker, successful business consultant and a fine writer. Dan Poynter, ParaPublishing.com.

Much More Than Just a way to Make Money

Barry Flicker's book "Working at Warp Speed" is a small book, that speaks volumes. Frequently in todays world, as shown through the media's headlines, we often hear of, and witness for ourselves the gross extent at which individuals, and individuals connected to business will sacrifice the most basic of morals, in order to quote "get ahead". Flicker returns to the fundamentals of what it means to be human, in explaining that, personally accountability, communication of feelings, and making goals situations where numerous parties come out winners, is a main message of the book. This is in contrast to blaming others for any mishaps you come across, holding everything in, becoming frustrated, and lastly, fighting not to be a "loser" destroying anything in your path on the way to quote "win". By following Flicker's book we see that money, and success, is a bi-product of holding ones integrity at the forefront of ones life. In the end by doing this life becomes much more enjoyable.

Great Book

This is the kind of book that anyone working with others on a project should keep nearby. It's practical, funny, and written in a down to earth way that makes you comfortable using it immediately to guide your own work. After reading it, you might want to start getting copies for everyone because it's done in a way that is easy to remember and talk about.

An unusually insightful and useful project management book!

In a world that's drowning in books on management in general, and project management in particular, this one really stands out. The author takes a far more human approach to the discipline, and addresses the real-world issues that REALLY cause teams and projects to fall apart, miss deadlines, etc. Gone are the elaborate theoretical constructs that sound good while reading about them, but which don't stick, and thus make no difference in behavior.In their place is very accessible, well-writtten guidance on identifying the pivotal issues, and how to address them. This is MUST reading for anyone having trouble managing multiple priorities.

A Remarkle Book

This book covers all the bases in a highly practical manner while also dealing with the meta-dynamic underlying all the "tools". The idea of linking "love" with high performance business results in a nuts and bolts book on project success seemed crazy to me, but this guy pulls it off.