Books of 2006

There are many good book lists. I've sampled readings from them in the past. My best selections though come from impulse buys:

Business and Technical Books

1. Performance Based Earned Value, Paul Solomon and Ralph Young. This is a culmination of Paul's efforts to connect Earned Value with project performance management.
2. Think Like a Rocket Scientist, Jim Longuski. A survey thought processes that can be applied to project management as well.
3. The Balanced Scorecard series from Norton and Kaplan have been put to work in our BSC work. The best book in this group is Balanced Scorecard: Step by Step, Paul Niven
4. Rethinking Performance Management, Marshall Meyer, establishes all the difficulties with a performance management initiative and the ways of closing these gaps.
5. Agile Information Systems, edited by Kevin Desouza provides a practical guide to deploying agile methods in IT. It is not an agile development book, but a book for those responsible for the business side of IT and the use of technology to meet those business needs.
6. The Management of Projects, Peter W. G. Morris surveys in detail the processes of managing projects. In detail from the field experience of successful and not so successful projects.
7. The Systems Bible, 3rd edition, John Gall. This view of the world is a good starting point for anyone wanting to break out of the methodology box and look at problems through the eyes of a systems engineer.
8. A two volume set: The Space Shuttle Decision 1965 - 1972 and Development of the Space Shuttle 1972 - 1981. Is an very detailed look at the management of "the most complex machine ever devised."
9. Effective Risk Management, Edmund Conrow, is the one and only risk management book you'll ever need. Not for the "weak of heart" due to the deep technical aspects of probabilistic risk management, but exclusive of all the topics needed to manage risks in complex projects.

Pleasure Books

1. Chances Are: Adventures in Probability, Micheal and Ellen Kaplan. An easy read about the subject of probability and how our lives are impacted everyday.
2. Raise Heaven and Earth, William Harwood. A business biography of the Martin Marietta company.
3. Augustine's Laws. Norman R. Augustine. The immutable laws of business as told by the retired president of Martin Marietta
4. Absolute Friends, John LeCarre. In the tradition of "cold war spy resurfaces in modern times," LeCarre provides a set of characters that come close - but not that close - to Smiley and his previous generation.
5. Mission Song, John LeCarre. Another Africa story like The Constant Gardner
6. The Inflationary Universe: The Quest for a New Theory of Cosmic Origins, Alan H. Guth. This is a current survey of the problems associated with the formation of the universe