Project Management Blunders: Lessons from the Project that Built, Launched, and Sank Titanic
 
by Mark Kozak-Holland

[Business/Project Management]

White Star’s initiative to build its new Olympic-class ships can be described as a text book project. It started off very well in the initiation and planning phases: the project team had a very good understanding of the business and customer needs, a solid vision, a superlative business case, the right supplier partnerships, good stakeholder relationships, and a healthy balance of proven and emerging technologies.

By the end of the design phase, however, decisions were made that compromised safety features. The architects assumed that the aggregated effect of the reduced safety features and advanced technologies would still protect the ships. By the end of the fitting-out phase, all key stakeholders believed that the ships could never founder.

The belief in Titanic's invincibility grew through the sea trials and into the maiden voyage. Everyone—from the captain and crew to the 53 millionaires on board—believed this. Why else would the wealthy and powerful have filled the hold and safes with cars and riches, and come aboard on a potentially treacherous route? Fundamentally, they believed that man had conquered nature and there was little risk.

This book reveals the project management blunders that doomed Titanic while it was still being built—mistakes that you can avoid repeating in your own projects. Filled with photos and copies of actual documents from the project, this book walks you through a case study in project management failure.

This book replaces Titanic Lessons for IT Projects (ISBN 9781895186260).