The Lazy Project Manager: How to be Twice as Productive and Still Leave the Office Early

by Peter Taylor

In The lazy project manager, Peter Taylor illustrates how we can achieve more without expending more time and energy. Welcome to the home of ‘productive laziness’ and a more focused approach to project management. Here, we are able to exercise our efforts where they really matter instead of rushing round involving ourselves in unimportant, non-critical activities that others can better address, or indeed that may not need addressing at all! It’s all about working smarter and Peter Taylor gives his trade secrets away in a lively and entertaining way. This is not a training manual. You won’t turn into a project manager by reading this book. But Peter, acting as ‘virtual coach’ will help you to identify and focus on the activities in your projects, do them well and enjoy the world of ‘productive laziness’.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Self Help, Productivity, Leadership, Buisness

152 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 10, 2009

Reviews

[Northerlad · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an easy read, sometimes stating the obvious, but with anecdotes and story telling.

Personally, I would prefer something more hard hitting, than fun. Some of the advice is sound, others you might want to re-assess if it is suitable in your world.

e.g. the book gives advice on 'dress to impress' (first impressions) as a project manager, and in some projects I have worked on, especially in Agile software development, there are organisations where if you dress down, you are more respected; but there are others projects I have been on in central government whereby it is expected to wear a suit and tie. It might be more suitable to state 'dress to become part of the team'.

There is a great 2 page summary of 10 really quick tips, but these do focus on the obvious to a project manager with a couple of years experience.

If you want a 127 pages of fun and easy read, then go for it. If you are looking for something which will help you develop harder project management skills, then other books may be worth looking at.

[Phil Newman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd like to give this book 2 1/2 stars. Overall, if you're a good and intelligent project manager, this book doesn't tell you anything you don't already know. If you're not, this book won't help. Some interesting stories. The dinosaur comparison is nice. Short, easy read.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the title fool you-it's about how to be an effective team member and project manager. Good read. Good for buisness that need to be more effective.

[Alberto Rodrigues · Rating 3 out of 5]

O livro é divertido e objetivo, mas a tradução deixa a desejar e muitas partes do livro ficam confusas, dificultando o entendimento.

[3thn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This ode to Laziness could have been delivered much better

[Ayesh Perera · Rating 5 out of 5]

small but consice! Loved reading it and I'm on to the 2nd book of Bollocks!

[Maggie Stuefloten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over prepare so you can coast. Nothing earth shattering.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this book, project management consultant Peter Taylor espouses his concept of "productive laziness". This essentially boils down to running projects effectively, in a manner where the project manager does not get over-burdened. Can't object to that!

The book presents as its key insight that if you spend the time up-front to plan your project carefully, then it will be easier to execute. This is a basic notion that is understood by pretty much every project manager in the field; it's hardly new thinking. Taylor dresses his basic idea up with a chatty style and some vignettes from his professional experience, which is not really that exceptional compared to other PM consultants I have dealt with. The book is very glib, and fails to address obvious and common problems with applying this idea, such as inheriting a project after the intiation stage, or not being given sufficient time to do the up-front planning you would like. Essentially the book is a bit of fun, an ad for his consulting practice. It's not much use to any of the experienced PMs the book is addressed to.

Applying Taylor's own philosophy, I'd suggest there are far more productive ways to spend the limited time you have for professional reading.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells you how to be lazy by focusing and working hard on the 20% that really matters in a project. It shows that as a project manager, you do not necessarily have all the knowledge and skills but you should instead leverage your team to get things done. The book is full of anecdotes and useful charts to help you visualise the content. It's an enjoying read and suitable for people who are looking to get things done efficiently and effectively.

[Preston Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tiny book of home spun, in-the-trenches wisdom from a project manager that's clearly experienced the trials and tribulations of many development cycles. For those familiar with routine issues faced by projects, Taylor's stories and advice will ring true in a concise, practical manner you'll want to pass around the office.

[Mely Sibbald Bissonette]

Love it. It actually makes a lot of sense.

[Stacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got this because it was free on kindle. Broad, basic content about planning ahead and delegating, filled out with mildly interesting anecdotes. Glad it was free.

[Gary Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Practical advice and a lot of fun.

[Tom Skidmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really enjoyed reading this book. I will put his other book on my list now.

[Rafael Targino · Rating 2 out of 5]

O livro é focado na idéia do princípio 20/80 de Pareto e baseia todo o texto em cima disso. Achei um pouco fraca a argumentação apesar de ter alguns insights interessantes...

[Roberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, good ideas... Pareto principle.

[David Titzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting strategy for management, but don't get the wrong idea from the title.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit amateur and a lot informal, but the style was fun and to the point, and the author presented some great ideas.

[Carissa Dingman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't a waste of time if you share the mindset or see the benefit of being a lazy project manager or Scrum Master. It has some good advice, gets the point across, and gets the point across in a clever way! I bought a virtual copy and will refer to my notes whenever I feel like I'm not being "lazy" enough. This book does highlight how the word "lazy" usually has a negative connotation, so I appreciate the positive spin on the word. Work smarter, not harder! And in these roles, that's a must for keeping your sanity. You could also apply these principles to other jobs or even your personal life, but hey, most people may not want to pick it up based on the title (the title implies that it only applies to project managers).

[Christian Souza · Rating 2 out of 5]

O livro contém ideias interessantes a respeito de gerenciamento de projetos, principalmente aquelas baseadas na experiência do autor (as histórias que ele narra ao final de cada capítulo são as melhores partes do livro). Mas o pecado desse livro advém de dois problemas: 1. O autor não é um escritor e, como parece achar que é, ele não submeteu o livro a uma boa revisão de texto, deixando-nos a impressão de que tudo poderia ser completamente reescrito. 2. A tradução para o Português é horrível. Tem trechos que parecem ter sido traduzidos diretamente pelo Google. Uma pena, pois o autor foi muito bem intencionado.

[Darrin Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good insights. Recommend to my project team members

This book has a lot of good insight and practical stories to keep the reader engaged. It's very relatable if you've managed a few projects and it's great perspective of you are someone new to managing projects. I really like this discussion on the company politics that affects the project.

[Carolyn Ferreira · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was fine. The first few chapters were iffy but I liked the later chapters where he followed the intro, tips, story format. He seems like a nice guy to work with, but I'm not sure I really learned much from this book that I didn't already know from experience. Might be netter for someone earlier in their PM career.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is mixture of common-sense project management and stories rather than any radical insights/teachings. I was hoping the material would have been more substantial. If I had to sum up this book it would be the 80/20 Rule for managing projects. 80% Team 20% Project Manager.

[Mark Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't put i t down

This was fun. Very entertaining to read and packed with good advice and thoughtful reflection. Peter's humor and real life examples made it entertaining, and it is brief enough to read in an afternoon. Excellent.

[Duchess_Nimue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good idea on developing the standard practice for work as a project manager. The advice is mostly centered on ideas how to prepare the beginning of the project, and how to end it, and to leave the middle for experts who will be doing it.

[Phil · Rating 1 out of 5]

Of all the business books I’ve read, I would classify The Lazy Project Manager as mediocre-poor. While some of the content was insightful and useful, the spacing, corny jokes and repeated requests to buy multiple copies of the book made the reading somewhat cringe-worthy. I think this may have been a desperate attempt by the author or the publisher to make this book big enough to be a book because, in reality, it would probably be more useful if it was condensed into an internet article one stumbles upon on LinkedIn--which is likely the proper medium Mr. Taylor’s authorship. However, for the purposes of this book report I must report on what I learned from this work so I will leave the criticisms behind and expound on the lessons learned from this book.

The strongest material in the book is mostly in the beginning where Taylor teaches us about the Pareto Principle and how 80% of the consequences stem from 20% of the causes. This is a very fascinating axiom because I think we can all think of some situation, task, or job in which we could intuitively sense this phenomenon yet not be able to articulate in such a rigid way. That Pareto, an economist, would codify this suggests that it has some validity in real life. As managers or project managers, sometimes we have a tendency to overcommitt ourselves, micro-manage, and sweat the small stuff when all we’re doing is really wasting time and energy. It is important to take a step back and focus on those big decisions, plans, or directives that have the sheer size and momentum to snowball into larger results. When reading about this principle I was reminded of the Ivy Lee Method, which very well could be an accidental descendant of Pareto. If you recall, the Ivy Lee Method is the one in which at the end of the work day you write down the six most important things that need to be accomplish the next day. You don’t write down more than six and during the process you work each one, one-by-one, in the order of importance. In the internet age, this is downright impossible to do. However, it does help one remember to separate the wheat from the chaff during any work process and keeping the 80/20 rule in mind is key to success in any endeavor.

I also was particularly struck by Taylor’s repeated admonitions on effective communication. I think this is crucial in all aspects of management, not just project management. According to Taylor, effective communication involves isolating the critical information, utilizing the optimum communication method for the person, and delivering that information at the appropriate time. Projects can be delayed or damaged when communication is less than effective.
Finally, I appreciated Taylor’s suggestions of dressing for success, getting the upper hand, being prepared, anticipating everything possible, and knowing the end game. As managers or project managers, these are great snippets of advice, and although they may seem like “common sense” maxims, I think we all have a story (or several) of management failing in one, two, or all of these categories. Teams depend on project managers to give the proper guidance, prepare for contingencies, and have enough subject knowledge to be authoritative (but not necessarily expert) in all phases of a project.

Thus, when we consider the heavy reliance on annectdotal examples in Taylor's work, we can surmise that productive laziness is still a theoretical application with small hints of practical framework provided by Pareto's Principle and the Ivy Lee Method (which was not included in this book). The Lazy Project Manager is essentially an underdeveloped attempt to bring a theory into a practice through Taylor's observations. While this in itself doesn't really pass the smell test, I can
still appreciate Taylor's desire to help aspiring project managers or business professionals seek the benefits of a more relaxed approach to large and complex projects. However, a few condensed pages of "Quick Tips" and even "Quicker Tips" at the back of a very short read doesn't lend much credence to any bona-fide practical applications. I would classify this work as theoretical unless there is further study with quantified results to back up Taylor's observations and reflections.

[Sunchana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such enjoyable read, loved it!

[Uroš · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s a fast read self-promotional booklet. Some good ideas, but I cannot consider it a proper book.

[Peter Wiggin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually only the summary of this book is worth reading. Stories for backing up the highlights are not so good.

[Allisonperkel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this on my Kindle: it was fairly terrible but a few nuggets of wisdom. Common sense wisdom.