Books by splitShops

The Smart Mission: Nasa's Lessons for Managing Knowledge, People, and Projects - Paperback

$22.95

Tax not included.
Shipping calculated at checkout.

Out of stock

Order Note:

Purchase Information

Shipping charges, applicable taxes, the final order total, and available payment methods are shown during checkout before payment. Delivery timing varies by item and fulfillment origin. Standard U.S. returns are by mail for eligible new, unopened items within 30 days of carrier delivery. Customers pay standard return shipping; there is no restocking fee. Approved refunds are issued within 5 business days after the return is received and inspected. Standard exchanges are not offered.

Cindi Book items have a flat $9.99 shipping charge. Shopify Collective items use shipping rates set by the supplier. Orders containing items from different fulfillment sources may include more than one shipping charge. Your full shipping total is shown at checkout before payment.

Return eligibility is subject to the full policy. Opened, read, or unsealed books with broken seals or visible wear are final sale. Digital downloads, gift cards, and personalized products are non-refundable. Original shipping charges are not refunded for standard returns. Contact us within 7 days of delivery about damaged, defective, or incorrect items.

by Edward J. Hoffman (Author), Matthew Kohut (Author), Laurence Prusak (Author)

Why human skills and expertise, not technical tools, are what make projects succeed.

The project is the basic unit of work in many industries. Software applications, antiviral vaccines, launch-ready spacecraft: all were produced by a team and managed as a project. Project management emphasizes control, processes, and tools--but, according to The Smart Mission, that is not the right way to run a project. Human skills and expertise, not technical tools, are what make projects successful. Projects run on knowledge. This paradigm-shifting book--by three project management experts, all of whom have decades of experience at NASA and elsewhere--challenges the conventional wisdom on project management, focusing on the human dimension: learning, collaboration, teaming, communication, and culture.

The authors emphasize three themes: projects are fundamentally about how teams work and learn together to get things done; the local level--not an organization's upper levels--is where the action happens; and projects don't operate in a vacuum but exist within organizations that are responsible to stakeholders. Drawing on examples and case studies from NASA and other organizations, the authors identify three project models--micro, macro, and global--and their different knowledge needs. Successful organizations have a knowledge-based culture. Successful project management guides the interplay of knowledge, projects, and people.

Author Biography

Edward J. Hoffman, currently CEO of Knowledge Strategies, LLC, and Senior Lecturer at Columbia University, was NASA's first Chief Knowledge Officer and founder of the NASA Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership (APPEL). Following the Columbia shuttle failure, he led the team that designed the Strategic Management and Governance Handbook. He is the coauthor of Shared Voyage: Learning and Unlearning from Remarkable Projects.

Matthew Kohut, former major communication advisor to NASA, is coauthor of Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities That Make Us Influential, named one of Amazon's Best Business Books of 2013.

Laurence Prusak, former strategy consultant to Hoffman at NASA, is Senior Lecturer in the Information and Knowledge Strategy graduate program at Columbia University and the coauthor of Working Knowledge, a widely cited text about how knowledge works in organizations, and other books.
Number of Pages: 176
Dimensions: 1.1 x 5.4 x 9 IN
Publication Date: October 17, 2023

Pay with

  • Amazon
  • Apple Pay
  • Diners Club
  • Discover
  • Google Pay
  • Mastercard
  • PayPal
  • Shop Pay
  • Visa

Available payment methods and your final total are shown at checkout before payment.

$22.95