Risk Up Front: Managing Projects in a Complex World

I'm only a couple of chapters in and I've already found the ideas presented to be both insightful and straightforward. Ordinarily the biggest concern I would have with something like this would be addressing the level of difficulty involved in implementing these kinds of concepts. In the past I've bailed early or completely steered clear when these types of books or programs were recommended to me, due to the suggestions feeling far too overwhelming and complicated to even attempt. But so far everything is broken down in a way that feels very doable. I'm looking forward to reading more and testing the waters with my own business projects.

In working for tech companies for over a decade, I've noticed an incredible rush to get projects done quickly... and that all the rushing usually leads to the projects getting done late, or poorly, or both, even when everyone is trying their hardest to win. Risk Up Front helped me understand why things so often go south with these projects... basically helping me see our team blindspots. I loved the authors' approach to accountability, transparency, integrity and commitment in Chapter 4, as it allows project team members to focus on finding productive solutions when challenges arise instead of people feeling bad about their actions/inactions (which tends to slow the project down further). I'm looking forward to working on teams where Risk Up Front's methodology is a part of our day-to-day business culture!

This book couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time for me. I’m confronting a complicated project management challenge where a talented individual and contract sub has invoiced service which I’ve discovered is neither true nor appropriate. I disclosed the issue and in doing so grapple with client’s trust in my judgements.Adam and Brad articulate what really is at hand here. Even if my client would rather not have “wasted time” discussing future hypothetical risk (which we face now in real-life), it’s the service provider’s role to artfully find that communication/commitment path up front, so that it both covers the potentials, and leaves the client having felt they didn’t invest their energy talking about the unnecessary. This book helps to set the foundation to deliver security and rebuilt trust in this project relationship. Thanks guys!

If you're interested in doing new things, and especially doing anything entrepreneurial, this is required reading. Entrepreneurs are naturally optimistic, but the successful ones - despite common wisdom about risk-seeking behavior - hate risk, and focus on it with intensity. Risk Up Front is a method that enables successful risk identification and mitigation without driving entrepreneurs/project managers/teams mad with unnecessary paperwork, processes, etc. Its pragmatic, its designed for use, it works, and the depths and power of the insights make it something greater still. Few investments will pay you back these kinds of multiples.

As a project manager constantly juggling competing priorities, Risk Up Front is a well-written, easily referenced manual on how to mitigate risk early, implement inspiration effectively, and keep profits in-house. RUF is an easy but important read that will benefit almost any project team.

Reading Risk Up Front led me to a sobering admission about how often projects squeak by on too many assumptions and faith. What Josephs and Rubenstein insightfully name optimistic procrastination is precisely the Hail Mary strategy regularly employed as a way things get done. I’m guilty. Throw out the challenge; the team will catch it. Yay, heroes (we hope)! In truth, teams that are constantly scrambling, even if they deliver, can’t play their A game. Risk Up Front (RUF) changes the project approach from post mortem to prenatal culture—from reaction to prevention.I test drove the core principles and the four primary project artifacts on a small solo project while I was reading this. The project documents were simple to create and useful. I was forced to confront difficult challenges (unknowns) I had been “conveniently” putting off. In truth, these unknowns were the source of my frustrations and inefficiencies on the project. Assessing the risks, moving challenges out of my blind spot, and taking committed action to mitigate them was hard. The outcome transformed a building dread into a sense of confidence and relief. The project became easier.My most critical take away from Risk Up Front was the focus on culture change. Even with my test project team of one, there was a significant impact. The most important statement the authors make is in the prologue. “Although [RUF] talks about tools and practices, we apply a laser focus to issues that affect behavior and results.” As a rugby referee, I can assure you that if your directives, penalties, cards and chats with the captains don’t affect behavior and result, everyone is in for a long, miserable game. RUF makes the convincing case that the same is true for projects. Using a RUF approach, the mechanisms to affect behavior and results are embedded in how a team works together. True culture and success are emergent properties of the team members actions and interactions. Taking on Risk Up Front can get you there.

By redefining the focus of urgency to the front of the project, Risk Up Front changed my perspective on how to build and motivate a team. It's a clear guide to group communication and how to shape common language around transparency and accountability. The authors' focus on identifying potential issues up front is valuable in a wide range of projects. Great book! I will use this.

This book is well written and lays out what I need in a direct easy to follow way. Having worked in a few different companies, they all seemed to have their won language so I found there I'd fining of common terms to be quite helpful in helping to put everyone all on the same page . I plan to use this tool often and to share it with business associates to help strengthen their teams as well as my own.

This is a great book / management concept. It takes one of the basic concepts of project management – confronting risk head on – and provides a formalized process to do so. Although the book gives you an A-Z plan for running a Risk-Up-Front project, with considerable detail, it is still an enjoyable read with lots of great examples. Chapter 3, which talks about culture, in particular engineering culture and how that perspective affects what we perceive as possible issues (ie, defining the blind spots) had a really good explanation and really spoke to me, as that’s the nature of my daily work.I can already see opportunities to incorporate the concepts from the RUF methodology into my daily work, and would be really interested in running a RUF based project.

Absolutely recommended. Please note this is not a novel, so even though you can read it from page 1 to last one, yes, it is more intended as a handbook: so you can go straight to those themes that you're more interested to. I also recommend the paper version: more practical for a handbook, in my opinion.

Well written and easy to read book. Provides sound advice on how to tackle risks through examples in various settings, and templates of documents to implement recommendations

Llego a tiempo y forma!