I bought "Tools for Complex Projects " because I saw a brochure advertising it and an associated course, which seemed to deal with network analysis in a project management environment. Unfortunately it didn't, but I don't regret buying the book. In fact it has been one of the most interesting and enlightening books on project management that I have bought in a long time.

The book is organised into two sections. The first section has a theoretical bent and deals with complexity. Typically project complexity is defined in terms of scale, cost, and risk, but Remington and Pollack classify projects as structurally complex, technically complex, directionally complex, and/or temporarily complex. I found this classification both interesting and useful: so useful in fact that I decided to use it in my PhD, and it's something I'll blog about in the near future. The second section provides some tools and methods to deal with the different types of complexity. I've scribbled notes all over the book, which is an indication of its usefulness to me.

I confess I had some trouble understanding one or two diagrams and just what they were supposed to mean. This was particularly so with the figures used to illustrate the differences between the different types of projects: this however is a minor criticism. I also would have liked a bit more discussion on complexity theory; although I am sure most practitioners would have found the discussion more than adequate, if not a bit dry!

The tools are of interest to both project and knowledge managers. One or two of them, like "Mapping the Complexity" and "Programme Tool", are a bit simplistic and subjective for my liking, but I can see where they might be useful for senior managers. On the other hand I thought the "Role Definition" tool was very useful: it's something I plan to use in my current workplace, where role clarity is often lacking! One tool I will play around with and develop is the "Risk Interdependencies" tool. I plan to implement this into my Business Network Analysis™ technique as a standard component - more on this in another post.

All in all, this book was an excellent read. I would recommend it to any serious knowledge practitioner or project manager. It's convinced me that catering for and understanding complexity in project environments matters!

Regards Graham