Titanic Lessons for It Projects

R.M.S. Titanic was considered by many, including its designers and builders, to be an unsinkable ship. With redundant safety systems that used the latest emerging technologies of the day, the ship was considered so safe that it did not even need a full complement of lifeboats. Yet, a collision with an iceberg put an end to the ship on its maiden voyage and led to the deaths of thousands of passengers and crew. The sinking of Titanic is one of the worst maritime disasters ever. “Titanic Lessons for IT Projects” analyzes the project that designed, built, and launched the ship, showing how compromises made during early project stages led to serious flaws in this supposedly “perfect ship.” In addition, the book explains how major mistakes during the early days of the ship’s operations led to the disaster. All of these disasterous compromises and mistakes were fully avoidable. Author Mark Kozak-Holland shows how the lessons learned from the disaster can be applied to IT projects today. In modern IT projects, we often have situations where we believe that we have designed, built, or launched a “perfect” solution. Kozak-Holland juxtaposes the Titanic story and modern IT projects so that we can learn from the disaster and avoid making similar mistakes. Entertaining and full of intriguing historical details, the book helps project managers and IT executives see the impact of decisions similar to the ones that they make every day. An easy read full of illustrations and photos to help explain the story and to help drive home some simple lessons.