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vi • c o ntents

2.3 Selection of a Project Manager 44

Credibility 44
Sensitivity 45
Leadership, Style, Ethics 45
2.4 Project Management as a Profession 47
2.5 Fitting Projects Into the Parent Organization 48
More on “Why Projects?” 48
Pure Project Organization 50
Functional Project Organization 51
Matrix Project Organization 52
Mixed Organizational Systems 55
The Project Management Office and Project Maturity 55
2.6 The Project Team 57
Matrix Team Problems 58
Intrateam Conflict 59
2.7 Multidisciplinary Teams—Balancing Pleasure and Pain 62
Integration Management 63
Interface Coordination—Interface Management 64
The Design Structure Matrix 65
Comments on Empowerment and Work Teams 66
Review Questions 69
Discussion Questions 69
Incidents for Discussion 70
Case: The Quantum Bank 70
Case: Southern Care Hospital 72
Bibliography 73

3 Project Activity and Risk Planning 76

3.1 The Basis of a Project Plan—The “Project Charter” 76

3.2 The Planning Process—Overview 79
3.3 The Planning Process—Nuts and Bolts 81
The Launch Meeting—and Subsequent Meetings 81
Sorting Out the Project—The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 83
Extensions of the Everyday WBS 85
3.4 More on the Work Breakdown Structure and Other Aids 92
The Raci Matrix 92
A Whole-Brain Approach to Project Planning 94
3.5 Risk Management 97
Risk Management Planning 98
Risk Identification and Qualitative Risk Analysis 98
Quantitative Risk Analysis 99
Risk Response Planning 102
Risk Monitoring and Control 103
Review Questions 104
Discussion Questions 104
Problems 105
Incidents for Discussion 106
Case: St. Dismas Assisted Living Facility—1 106
c on ten t s • vii

Case: John Wiley & Sons 108

Case: Samson University 109
Bibliography 110

4 Budgeting the Project  112

4.1 Methods of Budgeting 113

Top-Down Budgeting 115
Bottom-Up Budgeting 116
4.2 Cost Estimating 117
Work Element Costing 117
The Impact of Budget Cuts 118
An Aside 119
Activity vs. Program Budgeting 121
4.3 Improving Cost Estimates 122
Forms 123
Learning Curves 123
Tracking Signals 126
Other Factors 128
4.4 Budget Uncertainty and Project Risk Management 130
Budget Uncertainty 130
Project Budgeting in Practice 133
4.5 Project Risk Simulation with Crystal Ball® 134
Considering Disaster 143
Review Questions 144
Discussion Questions 144
Problems 144
Incidents for Discussion 146
Case: St. Dismas Assisted Living Facility Project Budget Development—2 147
Case: Photstat Inc. 149
Case: Building the Geddy’s Dream House 149
Bibliography 151

5 Scheduling the Project  152

5.1 Pert and Cpm Networks 153

The Language of PERT/CPM 153
Building the Network 154
Finding the Critical Path and Critical Time 156
Calculating Activity Slack 158
Doing It the Easy Way—Microsoft Project (MSP) 159
5.2 Project Uncertainty and Risk Management 162
Calculating Probabilistic Activity Times 162
The Probabilistic Network, an Example 163
Once More the Easy Way 165
The Probability of Completing the Project on Time 166
Selecting Risk and Finding D  172
The Case of the Unreasonable Boss 172
The Problem with Mergers 173
viii • c o ntents

5.3 Simulation 174

Incorporating Costs into the Simulation Analysis 177
Traditional Statistics vs. Simulation 179
5.4 The Gantt Chart 181
The Chart 181
5.5 Extensions to Pert/Cpm 186
Precedence Diagramming 186
Final Thoughts on the Use of These Tools 187
Review Questions 189
Discussion Questions 189
Problems 189
Discussion Problem 191
Incidents for Discussion 192
Case: St. Dismas Assisted Living Facility Program Plan—3 193
Case: NutriStar 196
Case: Launching E-Collar 197
Bibliography 199

6 Allocating Resources to the Project  200

6.1 Expediting a Project 201

The Critical Path Method 201
Fast-Tracking a Project 205
Project Expediting in Practice 205
6.2 Resource Loading 207
The Charismatic VP 212
6.3 Resource Leveling 213
Resource Loading/Leveling and Uncertainty 219
6.4 Allocating Scarce Resources to Projects 221
Some Comments about Constrained Resources 222
Some Priority Rules 222
6.5 Allocating Scarce Resources to Several Projects 223
Criteria of Priority Rules 225
The Basic Approach 225
Resource Allocation and the Project Life Cycle 226
6.6 Goldratt’s Critical Chain 227
Estimating Task Times 230
The Effect of Not Reporting Early Activity Completion 231
Multitasking 231
Common Chain of Events 234
The Critical Chain 235
Review Questions 236
Discussion Questions 237
Problems 237
Incidents for Discussion 238
Case: St. Dismas Assisted Living Facility Resource Usage—4 239
Case: Charter Financial Bank 241
Case: Rand Contractors 242
Bibliography 243
c on ten t s • ix

7 Monitoring and Controlling the Project  244

7.1 The Plan-Monitor-Control Cycle 244

Designing the Monitoring System 246
7.2 Data Collection and Reporting 247
Data Collecting 247
Data Analysis 248
Reporting and Report Types 249
Meetings 251
Virtual Meetings, Reports, and Project Management 252
7.3 Earned Value 253
7.4 Project Control 260
Purposes of Control 261
7.5 Designing the Control System 262
Types of Control Systems 264
Tools for Control 266
7.6 Scope Creep and Change Control 269
Review Questions 271
Discussion Questions 271
Problems 272
Incidents for Discussion 273
Case: St. Dismas Assisted Living Facility Case—5 274
Case: Palmstar Enterprises, Inc. 277
Case: Peak Lighting, Inc. 277
Bibliography 279

8 Evaluating and Terminating the Project  280

8.1 Evaluation 280
Evaluation Criteria 281
Measurement 282
8.2 Project Auditing 283
The Audit Process 283
The Audit Report 285
8.3 Project Termination 288
When to Terminate a Project 288
Types of Project Termination 289
The Termination Process 290
The Project Final Report 292
Review Questions 293
Discussion Questions 293
Incidents for Discussion 294
Case: St. Dismas Assisted Living Facility Case—6 294
Case: Datatech 297
Case: Ivory Tower Systems 298
Bibliography 300
x • c ontents

Appendix: Probability and Statistics  301

A.1 Probability 301

Subjective Probability 302
Logical Probability 302
Experimental Probability 302
A.2 Event Relationships and Probability Laws 302
The Multiplication Rule 303
The Addition Rule 304
A.3 Statistics 304
Descriptive versus Inferential Statistics 305
Measures of Central Tendency 306
Measures of Dispersion 307
Inferential Statistics 308
Standard Probability Distributions 309
Bibliography 310

Index 311
 P r e f a c e

The Approach

Over the past several decades, more and more work has been accomplished through
the use of projects and project management. The use of projects has been growing at
an accelerated rate, and not just in engineering and information technology, but also
in all the business disciplines: marketing, finance, human resources, accounting, opera-
tions, legal, and, of course, management. One of the most interesting areas of growth,
however, has been in the use of projects to achieve the strategic goals of organizations.
The exponential growth of membership in the Project Management Institute (PMI) is
further convincing evidence, as are the sales of computer software devoted to project
management. Several societal forces are driving this growth, and many economic fac-
tors are reinforcing it. We describe these in Chapter 1 of this book.
A secondary effect has also been a major contributor to the use of project activity.
As the use of projects has grown, its very success as a way of getting complex activi-
ties carried out successfully has become well established. The result has been a striking
increase in the use of projects to accomplish jobs that in the past would simply have
been turned over to someone with the comment, “Take care of it.”
What happened then was that some individual undertook to carry out the job with
little or no planning, little or no assistance, few resources, and often with only a vague
notion of what was really wanted. The simple application of routine project management
techniques significantly improved the consistency with which the outcomes resembled
what the organization had in mind when the chore was assigned. Later, this sort of activ-
ity came to be known as “enterprise project management,” “management by projects,”
and several other names, all of which are described as the project-oriented organization.
Some of these projects were large, but most were quite small. Some were complex,
but most were relatively straightforward. Some required the full panoply of project
management techniques, but most did not. All of them, however, had to be managed
and thus required a great many people to take on the role of project manager in spite of
little or no education in the science or arcane art of project management.
One result was rising demand for education in project management. The number of
college courses grew apace, as did the number of consulting firms offering seminars and
workshops. Perhaps most striking was the growth in educational opportunities through
post-secondary schools offering “short courses”—schools such as DeVry Institute, and
ITT. In addition, short courses were offered by colleges and community colleges con-
centrating on both part-time and full-time education for individuals already in the
work force. An exemplar of this approach is the University of Phoenix.
Communications from some instructors in these institutions told us that they would
like a textbook that was shorter and focused more directly on the “technical” aspects of
project management than those currently available. They were willing to forego most of
the theoretical aspects of management, particularly if such were not directly tied to prac-
tice. Their students, who were not apt to take advanced course work in project man-
agement, had little use for understanding the historical development of the field. For
example, they felt no need to read about the latest academic research on the management

xi
xii • P reface

of knowledge-based projects in a manufacturing environment. Finally, instructors asked

for increased use of project management application software, though they added that
they did not want a replacement for the many excellent “step-by-step” and “computing-
for-dummies” types of books that were readily available. They wanted the emphasis to be
on managing projects, and not on managing project management software.
These requests sounded sensible to us, and we have tried to write such a book.

Organization and Content

With few exceptions, both readers and instructors are most comfortable with project
management texts that are organized around the project life cycle, and this book is so
organized. In Chapter 1 we start by defining a project and differentiating project man-
agement from general management. After discussing the project life cycle, we briefly
cover project selection. We feel strongly that project managers who understand why a
project was selected by senior management also understand the firm’s objectives for the
project. Understanding those things, we know, will be of value in making the inevitable
trade-offs between time, budget, and the specified output of the project.
Chapter 2 is devoted to the various roles the project manager must play and to
the skills required to play them effectively. In addition, we cover the various ways in
which projects can be organized. The nature of project teams, including multidiscipli-
nary teams, and the behavioral aspects of projects are also discussed.
Project and risk planning, budgeting, and scheduling are covered in Chapters 3 to 5.
Planning the project initiates our discussion in Chapter 3, where we introduce the work
breakdown structure and other planning aids such as the RACI matrix, and end with a
thorough discussion and illustration of risk management planning. Project budgeting is
then described in Chapter 4 where we introduce the use of simulation through software
such as Crystal Ball® to analyze financial risk. Risk analysis using Oracle’s Crystal Ball®
11.1 (CB) simulations is demonstrated in several chapters with detailed instructions on
building and solving simulation models. Software is used throughout the book, where
relevant, to illustrate the use and power of such software to aid in managing projects.
Chapter 4 also includes a helpful mathematical model for improving cost estimates, or
any other numerical estimates used in planning projects. Chapter 5 initially uses stand-
ard manual methods for building project schedules, and Microsoft Project® 2010 (MSP)
is then demonstrated for doing the same thing.
Chapter 6 deals with resource allocation problems in a multiproject setting.
A major section of this chapter is devoted to the insights of E. Goldratt in his book
Critical Chain.* Chapter 7 concerns monitoring and controlling the project, especially
through the use of earned value analysis, which is covered in detail. The final chapter
deals with auditing, evaluating, and terminating projects.
Interest in risk management has grown rapidly in recent years, but the subject gets
only minimal attention in most introductory level project management textbooks. We
deal with risk throughout this book, introducing methods of risk management and analy-
sis where relevant to the subject at hand. For example, simulation is used in Chapter 4
for solving a project budgeting problem, in Chapter 5 on a ­scheduling ­problem, and in
Chapter 6 for examining the impact of a generally accepted ­assumption about probabilis-
tic project schedules that is usually false, and also to test the usually false assumption that
multitasking is an efficient way to improve productivity.
We are certainly aware that no text on project management could be structured
to reflect the chaos that seems to surround some projects throughout their lives, and a

*
Goldratt, E. M. Critical Chain. Great Barrington, MA: North River, 1997.
Pre fac e  • xiii

large majority of projects now and then. The organization of this book reflects a tidiness
and sense of order that is nonexistent in reality. Nonetheless, we make repeated refer-
ences to the technical, interpersonal, and organizational glitches that impact the true
day-to-day life of the project manager.

Pedagogy

The book includes several pedagogical aids. The end-of-chapter material includes Review
Questions that focus on the textual material. Discussion Questions emphasize the implica-
tions and applications of ideas and techniques covered in the text. Where appropriate,
there are Problems that are primarily directed at developing skills in the technical areas of
project management as well as familiarizing the student with the use of relevant software.
In addition to the above, we have included Incidents for Discussion in the form of
caselettes. In the main, these caselettes focus on one or more elements of the chapter to
which they are appended. Several of them, however, require the application of concepts
and techniques covered in earlier chapters so that they also serve an integrative function.
More comprehensive cases are also appended to each chapter. A special set of these,
beginning in Chapter 3, is associated with the same project, which continues on through
the following chapters—the planning, building, and marketing of an assisted living facil-
ity for people whose state of health makes it difficult for them to live independently, but
who are not yet ill enough to require nursing home care. Each chapter is followed by a
continuation of this case calling upon the ideas and methods covered in that chapter.
With all these cases, integration with material in other chapters is apt to be required.
We include Learning Objectives for each chapter but instead of putting them at
the beginning of the chapter, we have added them to the Instructors’ Manual. Many
teachers feel that their students should have the Learning Objectives as they begin
each chapter. Many don’t. Many teachers like to use their own LOs. Many do not like
to use LOs because they feel that students focus solely on the listed objectives and
ignore everything else. Given our LOs in the Instructor’s Manual, each teacher may opt
for his or her own notion on the matter.
We have used Excel® spreadsheets where appropriate throughout the book.
Microsoft Office® is widely available, and with few exceptions students and professional
project managers are familiar with its operation. A free 60-day trial edition of Microsoft
Project 2010® is available with each new copy of the book through the ­contact informa-
tion below. It will run on Microsoft’s Windows 8® as well as ­several earlier versions of
Windows®. Note that Microsoft has changed their policy and no longer offers a 120-
day trial, only a 60-day trial. Please be sure to plan your course accordingly. Additionally,
Microsoft Project 2010® software is available through Dreamspark Premium, an annual
membership program that provides the easiest and most inexpensive way for universi-
ties to make the latest Microsoft software available in labs, classrooms, and on student
PCs. Through Wiley’s partnership with Microsoft, software available via Dreamspark
Premium is provided at no charge to qualifying departments upon adoption.
Contact your Wiley representative (click on “Who’s My Rep” at www.Wiley.com)
when you have selected a Wiley textbook to adopt. Schools must qualify, and some restric-
tions do apply, so please contact your Wiley representative about this opportunity. Once
qualified, your department will be awarded membership, and you, your colleagues, and the
students in your courses can begin downloading the software from a remote hosting server.
Microsoft and Wiley are working together to make obtaining software for your
department easy for you. E-mail us at [email protected] for details or call 1-888-
764-7001. For more information about the Dreamspark Premium program, go to www.
dreamspark.com.
xiv • Preface

Microsoft Project®, which is included in Dreamspark Premium, was chosen because

it is a competent piece of software that is used by a large majority of all project manage-
ment software users. While Project 2010® is available for free with the adoption of this
text, schools and professionals with access to earlier versions are not at a disadvantage.
Almost all the relevant commands are the same in all versions, and the standard print-
outs are very similar. One exception is found in the case of earned value calculations
and reports. There are slight variations among versions, and some vary slightly from
the Project Management Institute standards. The differences are easily handled and are
explained in Chapter 7. With this exception, we do not differentiate between the ver-
sions and refer to them all as Microsoft Project (MSP).
Each copy of the text comes packaged with a registration card, which professors
and students can use to download a free trial edition of Oracle’s Crystal Ball® 11.1. For
those professors using an e-book version of the text, instructions for accessing Crystal
Ball (CB)® are posted on the Instructor Companion web site for the text. If you have
questions, please contact your local Wiley sales rep. We have demonstrated in Chapters
4, 5, and 6 some of the problems where the use of statistical decision models and simu-
lation can be very helpful in understanding and managing risk. Detailed instructions
are given. In addition, a number of the end-of-chapter problems have been rewritten to
adapt them for solution by Crystal Ball®. These can be found in the Instructor’s Manual
along with added instructions for use of the software. Crystal Ball® was chosen because
it works seamlessly with Excel® and is user friendly. As is true with MSP, earlier ver-
sions of Crystal Ball® use the same basic commands as version 11.1, but the later ver-
sion has a new instructional ribbon. Outputs are not significantly changed. Version
11.1 runs on Windows 8® and earlier versions of Windows®. We will not differentiate
between different versions of Crystal Ball®.
Because this text is oriented toward practice, not research, the end-of-chapter
bibliographies reflect our notions of minimal requirements. We have included several
works that are classics in their fields—quite irrespective of the date of their publica-
tion. West Churchman’s 1979 book on the “systems approach” is still one of the most
thoughtful and readable works on that subject. Herzberg’s 1968 Harvard Business Review
article on motivation was written long before many of our readers were born, but is a
widely reprinted seminal article on the subject. While most of our citations date from
the past 10 or 15 years, we have tried to cite the best, the original, and the readable in
preference to the most recent.
As we have noted elsewhere, projects have failed because the project manager
attempted to manage the software rather than the project. We feel strongly that stu-
dents and professionals should learn to use the basic project management techniques by
hand—and only then turn to software for relief from their manual efforts.
As is true with any textbook, we have made some assumptions about both the stu-
dents and professionals who will be reading this book. We assume that they have all
had some elementary training in management, or have had equivalent experience. We
also assume that, as managers, they have some slight acquaintance with the fundamen-
tals of accounting, behavioral science, finance, and statistics. We even assume that they
have forgotten most of the statistics they once learned; therefore, we have included an
appendix on relevant elementary statistics and probability as a memory refresher.

What’s New

Both students and instructors have been generous and kind with their comments on
the first four editions of this book. They have given us very useful suggestions and
feedback such as proposing that we integrate the material on Crystal Ball® directly
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into the chapters where it is used, which we have done. In this edition we have also
tried to improve the flow of material and have moved some topics around a bit to
achieve this. First, we moved the extensive Crystal Ball® simulation description out
of the introductory Chapter 1 and into the budgeting Chapter 4 to illustrate how to
simulate costs to evaluate budget risks. And we moved the discussion of risk manage-
ment earlier, from Chapter 4 to the project planning Chapter 3, since risk pervades
all the aspects of project planning, and especially scope, time, and cost. To make
room for the risk discussion in Chapter 3, we moved the discussion of multidiscipli-
nary teams to Chapter 2, which seems to be a better fit for the topic also.
Reviewers also asked us to comment about how budgets and activity expediting
are actually handled in practice, so we checked many practice-oriented magazines and
journals and then queried some project managers we knew. The result is a few para-
graphs in Chapters 4 on budgeting and Chapter 6 on resource allocation describing the
vagaries and real-world dynamics project managers commonly face in these areas.
To further improve the student’s perspective of project management from the view
of project managers in actual practice, we describe their situation throughout the text as
one of constantly making trade-offs between not only the three main goals of scope, time,
and cost but also risk and other implied ancillary goals such as organizational improve-
Trade-Offs
ment, strategic goals, and future opportunities. To highlight these areas where we talk
about trade-offs and risk, we have added new icons to the book margins where impor-
tant discussion on these topics appears. We have also added a new icon to indicate areas
Risk of discussion that we believe exemplify “best practice” in the project management field.
And we have expanded our references to locations in PMBOK® that discuss the topic at
hand for those who are also studying for the Project Management Professional® (PMP) or
Best Practice
other certification exams offered by the Project Management Institute.
Last, we added a large number of additional problems and mini-cases to the
appropriate chapters where reviewers asked for them. We also added another simula-
tion example in Chapter 5 to illustrate costs in a network. We also reduced our dis-
PMBOK Guide cussion on some topics that reviewers suggested, such as the design structure matrix.

Supplements
The Instructor’s Manual will provide assistance to the project management instructor
in the form of answers/solutions to the questions, problems, incidents for discussion,
and end-of-chapter cases. This guide will also reference relevant Harvard Business
School type cases and readings, teaching tips, and other pedagogically helpful mate-
rial. Wiley maintains a web site for this and other books. The address is www.wiley.com/
college/mantel. The site contains an electronic version of the Instructor’s Manual, an
extensive set of PowerPoint slides, sample course outlines, and test questions to test
student understanding.

Acknowledgments

There is no possible way to repay the scores of project managers and students who have
contributed to this book, often unknowingly. The professionals have given us ideas
about how to manage projects, and students have taught us how to teach project man-
agement. We are grateful beyond our ability to express it.
We are also grateful to a small group of individuals, both close friends and
acquaintances, who have graciously shared their time and knowledge without stint:
xvi • Preface

James Cochran, Louisiana Tech University; James Evans, University of Cincinnati; Karen
Garrison, Lucidity Consulting Group; Timothy Kloppenborg, Xavier University, Ohio;
Samuel J. Mantel, III, RadioShack, Inc.; Jim McCarthy, McCarthy Technologies, Inc.; the
late Gerhard Rosegger, (2008), Case Western Reserve University; and Stephen Wearne,
University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology.
For this edition we thank the following reviewers: Jesus Jimenez, Texas State University;
Steve MacQueen, Midlands Technical College; Al Morelli, University of Southern California;
Dee Piziak, Concordia University, Wisconsin; James Szot, The University of Texas at Dallas;
Marlee Walton, Iowa State University; and Richard Wendell, University of Pittsburgh.
Above all, we thank Suzanne Ingrao, Ingrao Associates, without whom this book would
have been unreadable. Our gratitude is also extended to Wiley Editors Lisé Johnson and
Brian Baker who did their best to keep us on track, on time, and of composed mind.
Finally, we owe a massive debt to those colleagues who reviewed the original
manuscript of this book and/or its subsequent editions: Kwasi Amoako-Gyampah,
University of North Carolina at Greensboro; James M. Buckingham, United States Military
Academy, West Point; Michael J. Casey, George Mason University; Larry Crowley, Auburn
University; Catherine Crummett, James Madison University; George R. Dean, DeVry
Institute of Technology, DuPage; Geraldo Ferrer, University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill; Linda Fried, University of Colorado, Denver; William C. Giauque, Brigham Young
University; Bertie Greer, Northern Kentucky University; David Harris, University of New
Mexico; H. Khamooshi, George Washington University; Bill Leban, Keller Graduate School
of Management; Leonardo Legorreta, California State University, Sacramento; William
E. Matthews, William Patterson University; Sara McComb, University of Massachusetts
Amherst; J. Wayne Patterson, Clemson University; Ann Paulson, Edmonds Community
College; Patrick Philipoom, University of South Carolina; Arthur C. Rogers, City
University; Dean T. Scott, DeVry Institute of Technology, Pomona; Richard V. Sheng,
DeVry Institute of Technology, Long Beach; William A. Sherrard, San Diego State
University; Kimberlee Snyder, Winona University; Louis C. Terminello, Stevens Institute
of Technology; and Jeffrey L. Williams, University of Phoenix. We owe a special thanks
to Byron Finch, Miami University, for a number of particularly thoughtful suggestions
for improvement. While we give these reviewers our thanks, we absolve each and all of
blame for our errors, omissions, and wrong-headed notions.

Jack R. Meredith Samuel J. Mantel, Jr.

Broyhill Distinguished Scholar and Chair of Operations Joseph S. Stern Professor Emeritus of Operations Management
School of Business College of Business Administration
Wake Forest University University of Cincinnati
Winston Salem, NC 27109 608 Flagstaff Drive
[email protected] Cincinnati, OH 45215
(336) 758-4467 [email protected]
http://business.wfu.edu/apps/facprofiles.cfm?id=jack.meredith (513) 931-2465

Scott M. Shafer Margaret M. Sutton

Professor of Management and Associate Dean of Full-Time Sutton Associates
MBA Program 46 North Lake Avenue
School of Business Cincinnati, OH 45246
Wake Forest University [email protected]
P.O. Box 7659 (513) 543-2806
Winston Salem, NC 27109
shafersm@ wfu.edu
(336) 758-3687
http://business.wfu.edu/apps/facprofiles.cfm?id=scott.shafer
C • H • A • P • T • E • R

1
The World of Project Management

Once upon a time there was a heroine project manager. Her projects were never late.
They never ran over budget. They always met contract specifications and invariably
satisfied the expectations of her clients. And you know as well as we do, anything that
begins with “Once upon a time . . .” is just a fairy tale.
This book is not about fairy tales. Throughout these pages we will be as realistic as
we know how to be. We will explain project management practices that we know will
work. We will describe project management tools that we know can help the project
manager come as close as Mother Nature and Lady Luck will allow to meeting the
expectations of all who have a stake in the outcome of the project.

1.1 What Is A Project?

Why this emphasis on project management? The answer is simple: Daily, organizations
are asked to accomplish work activities that do not fit neatly into business-as-usual.
A software group may be asked to develop an application program that will access U.S.
government data on certain commodity prices and generate records on the value of
commodity inventories held by a firm; the software must be available for use on April 1.
The Illinois State Bureau for Children’s Services may require an annually updated cen-
sus of all Illinois resident children, aged 17 years or younger, living with an illiterate
single parent; the census must begin in 18 months. A manufacturer initiates a process
improvement project to offset higher energy costs.
Note that each work activity is unique with a specific deliverable aimed at meet-
ing a specific need or purpose. These are projects. The routine issuance of reports
on the value of commodity inventories, the routine counseling of single ­parents
on nurturing their offspring, the day-to-day activities associated with running
a machine in a ­factory—these are not projects. The difference between a project

1
2 • C h a p t e r 1 / T h e W o r l d o f P r o j ec t Management

and a nonproject is not always crystal clear. For almost any precise definition, we
can point to exceptions. At base, however, projects are unique, have a specific
deliverable, and have a specific due date. Note that our examples have all those
characteristics. The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines in its Project
PMBOK Guide Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 5th edition, a project as “A tem-
porary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result” (Project
Management Institute, 2013).
Projects vary widely in size and type. The writing of this book is a project. The
reorganization of Procter & Gamble (P&G) into a global enterprise is a project, or
more accurately a program, a large integrated set of projects. The construction of a
fly-in fishing lodge in Manitoba, Canada, is a project. The organization of “Cat-in-
the-Hat Day” so that Mrs. Payne’s third grade class can celebrate Dr. Suess’s birthday
is also a project.
Both the hypothetical projects we mentioned earlier and the real-world projects
listed just above have the same characteristics. They are unique, specific, and
have desired completion dates. They all qualify as projects under the PMI’s defi-
nition. They have an additional characteristic in common—they are multidis-
ciplinary. They require input from people with different kinds of knowledge and
expertise. This multidisciplinary nature of projects means that they tend to be com-
plex, that is, composed of many interconnected elements and requiring input from
groups outside the project. The various areas of knowledge required for the construc-
tion of the fly-in fishing lodge are not difficult to imagine. The knowledge needed
for globalization of a large conglomerate like P&G is quite beyond the imagina-
tion of any one individual and requires input from a diversified group of specialists.
Working as a team, the specialists investigate the problem to discover what informa-
tion, skills, and knowledge are needed to accomplish the overall task. It may take
weeks, months, or even years to find the correct inputs and understand how they
fit together.
A secondary effect of using multidisciplinary teams to deal with complex prob-
lems is conflict. Projects are characterized by conflict. As we will see in later chap-
ters, the project schedule, budget, and specifications conflict with each other. The
needs and desires of the client conflict with those of the project team, the senior
management of the organization conducting the project and others who may have a
less direct stake in the project. Some of the most intense conflicts are those between
members of the project team. Much more will be said about this in later chapters.
For the moment, it is sufficient to recognize that projects and conflict are often
inseparable companions, an environment that is unsuitable and uncomfortable for
conflict avoiders.
It is also important to note that projects do not exist in isolation. They are often
parts of a larger entity or program, just as projects to develop a new engine and an
improved suspension system are parts of the program to develop a new automo-
bile. The overall activity is called a program. Projects are subdivisions of programs.
Likewise, projects are composed of tasks, which can be further divided into subtasks
that can be broken down further still. The purpose of these subdivisions is to allow the
project to be viewed at various levels of detail. The fact that projects are typically parts
of larger organizational programs is important for another reason, as is explained in
Section 1.5.
Finally, it is appropriate to ask, “Why projects?” The reason is simple. We form
projects in order to fix the responsibility and authority for the achievement of an
organizational goal on an individual or small group when the job does not clearly fall
within the definition of routine work.
1. 1 W HAT I S A PROJEC T? • 3

Trends in Project Management

Many recent developments in project management are being driven by quickly chang-
ing global markets, technology, and education. Global competition is putting pressure
on prices, response times, and product/service innovation. Computer and telecommu-
nication technology, along with rapidly expanding higher education across the world
allows the use of project management for types of projects and in regions where these
sophisticated tools had never been considered before. The most important of these
recent developments are covered in this book.
Achieving Strategic Goals There has been a growing use of projects to achieve
an organization’s strategic goals, and existing major projects are screened to make sure
that their objectives support the organization’s strategy and mission. Projects that do
not have clear ties to the strategy and mission are not approved. A discussion of this is
given in Section 1.6, where the Project Portfolio Process is described.
Achieving Routine Goals On the other hand, there has also been a growing use
of project management to accomplish routine departmental tasks, normally handled as
the usual work of functional departments; e.g., routine machine maintenance. Middle
management has become aware that projects are organized to accomplish their per-
formance objectives within their budgets and deadlines. As a result, artificial deadlines
and budgets are created to accomplish specific, though routine, departmental tasks—a
process called “projectizing.”
Improving Project Effectiveness A variety of efforts are being pursued to
improve the process and results of project management, whether strategic or rou-
Best Practice
tine. One well-known effort is the creation of a formal Project Management Office
(PMO, see Section 2.5) in many organizations that takes responsibility for many of
the administrative and specialized tasks of project management. Another effort
is the evaluation of an organization’s project management “maturity,” or skill and
experience in managing projects (discussed in Section 7.5). This is often one of the
responsibilities of the PMO. Another responsibility of the PMO is to educate project
managers about the ancillary goals of the organization (Section 8.1), which automati-
cally become a part of the goals of every project whether the project manager knows
it or not. Achieving better control over each project through the use of phase gates
(Sections 7.1 and 7.4), earned value (Section 7.3), critical ratios (Section 7.4), and
Best Practice other such techniques is also a current trend.
Virtual Projects With the rapid increase in globalization of industry, many projects
now involve global teams whose members operate in different countries and different
time zones, each bringing a unique set of talents to the project. These are known as
virtual projects because the team members may never physically meet before the team
is disbanded and another team reconstituted. Advanced telecommunications and com-
puter technology allow such virtual projects to be created, do their work, and complete
their project successfully (see Section 2.1).
Quasi-Projects Led by the demands of the information technology/systems depart-
ments, project management is now being extended into areas where the project’s objec-
tives are not well understood, time deadlines unknown, and/or budgets undetermined.
This ill-defined type of project is extremely difficult to conduct and to date has often
resulted in setting an artificial due date and budget, and then specifying project objec-
tives to meet those limits. However, new tools for these quasi-projects are now being
developed—prototyping, phase-gating, and others—to help these projects achieve
Best Practice results that satisfy the customer in spite of the unknowns.
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 “Foolish are ye, my children!” cried the Nightingale. “Fetch from
the vaults a cartload of fair gold, another of pure silver, and a third of
fine seed pearls, and give to the Old Cossack, Ilyá of Múrom, that he
may set me free.”
Quoth Ilyá: “If I should plant my sharp spear in the earth, and thou
shouldst heap treasures about it until it was covered, yet would I not
release thee, Nightingale, lest thou shouldst resume thy thieving. But
follow me now to glorious Kíev town, that thou mayest receive
forgiveness there.”
Then his good steed Cloudfall began to prance, and the Magic
Bird at his stirrup to dance, and in this wise came the good youth,
the Old Cossack to Kíev, to glorious Prince Vladímir.
Now, fair Prince Vladímir of royal Kíev was not at home; he had
gone to God’s temple. Therefore Ilyá entered the court without leave
or announcement, bound his horse to the golden ring in the carven
pillars, and laid his commands upon that good heroic steed: “Guard
thou the Nightingale, my charger, that he depart not from stirrup of
steel!”
And to Nightingale he said: “Look to it, Nightingale, that thou
depart not from my good steed, for there is no place in all the white
world where thou mayest securely hide thyself from me!”
Then he betook himself to Easter mass. There he crossed himself
and did reverence, as prescribed, on all four sides, and to the Fair
Sun, Prince Vladímir, in particular. And after the mass was over,
Prince Vladímir sent to bid the strange hero to the feast, and there
inquired of him from what horde and land he came, and what was his
parentage. So Ilyá told him that he was the only son of honourable
parents. “I stood at my home in Múrom, at matins,” quoth he, “and
mass was but just ended when I came hither by the straight way.”
When the heroes that sat at the Prince’s table heard that, they
looked askance at him.
“Nay, good youth, liest thou not? boastest thou not?” said Fair Sun
Vladímir. “That way hath been lost these thirty years, for there stand
great barriers therein; accursed Tartars in the fields, black morasses;
and beside the famed Smoródina, amid the bending birches, is the
nest of the Nightingale on seven oaks; and that Magic Bird hath nine
sons and eight daughters, and one is a witch. He hath permitted
neither horse nor man to pass him these many years.”
“Nay, thou Fair Sun Prince Vladímir,” Ilyá answered: “I did come
the straight way, and the Nightingale Robber now sitteth bound
within thy court.”
Then all left the tables of white oak, and each outran the other to
view the Nightingale, as he sat bound to the steel stirrup, with one
eye fixed on Kíev town and the other on Chernígov from force of
habit. And Princess Apráksiya came forth upon the railed balcony to
look.
Prince Vladímir spoke: “Whistle, thou Nightingale, roar like an
aurochs, hiss like a dragon.”
But the Nightingale replied: “Not thy captive am I, Vladímir. ’Tis not
thy bread I eat. But give me wine.”
“Give him a cup of green wine,” spake Ilyá, “a cup of a bucket and
a half, in weight a pud and a half, and a cake of fine wheat flour, for
his mouth is now filled with blood from my dart.”
Vladímir fetched a cup of green wine, and one of the liquor of
drunkenness, and yet a third of sweet mead; and the Nightingale
drained each at a draught. Then the Old Cossack commanded the
Magic Bird to whistle, roar and hiss, but under his breath, lest harm
might come to any.
But the Nightingale, out of malice, did all with his full strength. And
at that cry, all the ancient palaces in Kíev fell in ruins, the new
castles rocked, the roofs through all the city fell to the ground, damp
mother earth quivered, the heroic steed fled from the court, the
young damsels hid themselves, the good youths dispersed through
the streets, and as many as remained to listen died. Ilyá caught up
Prince Vladímir under one arm, and his Princess under the other, to
shield them; yet was Vladímir as though dead for the space of three
hours.
 “For this deed of thine thou shalt die,” spake Ilyá in his wrath, and
Vladímir prayed that at least a remnant of his people might be
spared.
The Nightingale began to entreat forgiveness, and that he might
be allowed to build a great monastery with his ill-gotten gold. “Nay,”
said Ilyá, “this kind buildeth never, but destroyeth alway.”
With that he took Nightingale the Robber by his white hands, led
him far out upon the open plain, fitted a burning arrow to his stout
bow and shot it into the black breast of that Magic Bird. Then he
struck off his turbulent head, and scattered his bones to the winds,
and, mounting his good Cloudfall, came again to good Vladímir.
Again they sat at the oaken board, eating savoury viands and
white swans, and quaffing sweet mead. Great gifts and much
worship did Ilyá receive, and Vladímir gave command that he should
be called evermore Ilyá of Múrom, the Old Cossack, after his native
town.—From I. F. Hapgood’s The Epic Songs of Russia.
 Historical Songs.
The historical songs are composed in the same manner as
the epic songs, of which they are an organic continuation. The
oldest historical songs treat of the Tartar invasion. A large
number are centred about Iván the Terrible, and those that
describe Yermák’s exploits and conquests in Siberia are
probably the most interesting of that period. Some of those
referring to the time of the Borís Godunóv have been given on
pp. 130-4, having been collected by Richard James, the
English divine. There are also songs dealing with Sténka
Rázin, the robber, who was executed in 1671, and Peter the
Great, of which that on the taking of Ázov in 1696 is given
below.
There are few collections of these songs in English: W. R.
Morfill’s Slavonic Literature and Talvi’s Historical View are the
only ones that give extracts of any consequence. Accounts of
these songs may be found in most of the Histories of Russian
Literature mentioned in the Preface.

YERMÁK

On the glorious steppes of Sarátov,

Below the city of Sarátov,
And above the city of Kamýshin,
The Cossacks, the free people, assembled;
They collected, the brothers, in a ring;
The Cossacks of the Don, the Grebén, and the Yaík,
Their Hetman was Yermák, the son of Timoféy;
Their captain was Asbáshka, the son of Lavrénti.
They planned a little plan.
“The summer, the warm summer is going,
And the cold winter approaches, my brothers.
Where, brothers, shall we spend the winter?
If we go to the Yaík, it is a terrible passage;
If we go to the Vólga, we shall be considered robbers;
If we go to the city of Kazán, there is the Tsar—
The Tsar Iván Vasílevich, the Terrible.
There he has great forces.”
“There, Yermák, thou wilt be hanged,
And we Cossacks shall be captured
And shut up in strong prisons.”
Yermák, the son of Timoféy, takes up his speech:—
“Pay attention, brothers, pay attention,
And listen to me—Yermák!
Let us spend the winter in Astrakhán;
And when the fair Spring reveals herself,
Then, brothers, let us go on a foray;
Let us earn our wine before the terrible Tsar!”
“Ha, brothers, my brave Hetmans!
Make for yourselves boats,
Make the rowlocks of fir,
Make the oars of pine!
By the help of God we will go, brothers;
Let us pass the steep mountains,
Let us reach the infidel kingdom,
Let us conquer the Siberian kingdom,—
That will please our Tsar, our master.
I will myself go to the White Tsar,
I shall put on a sable cloak,
I shall make my submission to the White Tsar.”
“Oh! thou art our hope, orthodox Tsar;
Do not order me to be executed, but bid me say my say,
Since I am Yermák, the son of Timoféy!
I am the robber Hetman of the Don;
’Twas I went over the blue sea,
Over the blue sea, the Caspian;
And I it was who destroyed the ships;
And now, our hope, our orthodox Tsar,
I bring you my traitorous head,
And with it I bring the empire of Siberia.”
And the orthodox Tsar spoke;
He spoke—the terrible Iván Vasílevich:
“Ha! thou art Yermák, the son of Timoféy,
Thou art the Hetman of the warriors of the Don.
I pardon you and your band,
I pardon you for your trusty service,
And I give you the glorious gentle Don as an inheritance.”

—From W. R. Morfill’s Slavonic Literature.

THE BOYÁR’S EXECUTION

“Thou, my head, alas! my head,

Long hast served me, and well, my head;
Full three-and-thirty summers long;
Ever astride of my gallant steed,
Never my foot from its stirrup drawn.
But alas! thou hast gained, my head,
Nothing of joy or other good;
Nothing of honours or even thanks.”

Yonder along the Butcher’s street,

Out to the field through the Butcher’s gate,
They are leading a prince and peer.
Priests and deacons are walking before,
In their hands a great book open;
Then there follows a soldier troop,
With their drawn sabres flashing bright.
At his right the headsman goes,
Holds in his hand the keen-edged sword;
At his left goes his sister dear,
And she weeps as the torrent pours,
And she sobs as the fountains gush.
Comforting speaks her brother to her:
“Weep not, weep not, my sister dear!
Weep not away thy eyes so clear,
Dim not, O dim not thy face so fair,
Make not heavy thy joyous heart!
Say, for what is it thou weepest so?
Is ’t for my goods, my inheritance?
Is ’t for my lands, so rich and wide?
Is ’t for my silver, or is ’t for my gold,
Or dost thou weep for my life alone?”

“Ah, thou, my light, my brother dear!

Not for thy goods or inheritance,
Not for thy lands, so rich and wide,
Is ’t that my eyes are weeping so;
Not for thy silver and not for thy gold,
’Tis for thy life I am weeping so.”
“Ah, thou, my light, my sister sweet!
Thou mayest weep, but it won’t avail;
Thou mayest beg, but ’tis all in vain;
Pray to the Tsar, but he will not yield.
Merciful truly was God to me,
Truly gracious to me the Tsar,
So he commanded my traitor head
Off should be hewn from my shoulders strong.”

Now the scaffold the prince ascends,

Calmly mounts to the place of death;
Prays to his Great Redeemer there,
Humbly salutes the crowd around:
“Farewell, world, and thou people of God!
Pray for my sins that burden me sore!”
Scarce had the people ventured then
On him to look, when his traitor head
Off was hewn from his shoulders strong.

—From Talvi’s Historical View.

THE STORMING OF ÁZOV

The poor soldiers have no rest,

Neither night nor day!
Late at evening the word was given
To the soldiers gay;
All night long their weapons cleaning,
Were the soldiers good;
Ready in the morning dawn,
All in ranks they stood.
Not a golden trumpet is it,
That now sounds so clear;
Nor the silver flute’s tone is it,
That thou now dost hear.
’Tis the great White Tsar who speaketh,
’Tis our father dear.
“Come, my princes, my boyárs,
Nobles, great and small!
Now consider and invent
Good advice, ye all,
How the soonest, how the quickest,
Fort Ázov may fall!”

The boyárs, they stood in silence,—

And our father dear,
He again began to speak,
In his eye a tear:
“Come, my children, good dragoons,
And my soldiers all,
Now consider and invent
Brave advice, ye all,
How the soonest, how the quickest,
Fort Ázov may fall!”

Like a humming swarm of bees,

So the soldiers spake,
With one voice at once they spake:
“Father dear, great Tsar!
Fall it must! and all our lives
Thereon we gladly stake.”
Set already was the moon,
Nearly past the night;
To the storming on they marched,
With the morning light;
To the fort with bulwarked towers
And walls so strong and white.
Not great rocks they were, which rolled
From the mountains steep;
From the high, high walls there rolled
Foes into the deep.
No white snow shines on the fields,
All so white and bright;
But the corpses of our foes
Shine so bright and white.
Not upswollen by heavy rains
Left the sea its bed;
No! In rills and rivers streams
Turkish blood so red!

—From Talvi’s Historical View.

 Folksongs.
Pagan Russia was rich in ceremonies in honour of the
various divinities representing the powers of nature.
Christianity has not entirely obliterated the memory of these
ancient rites: they are preserved in the ceremonial songs that
are recited, now of course without a knowledge of their
meaning, upon all church holidays, to which the old festivities
have been adapted. Thus, the feast of the winter solstice now
coincides with Christmas, while the old holiday of the summer
solstice has been transferred to St. John’s Day, on June 24th.
The kolyádas are sung at Christmas, and seem to have
been originally in honour of the sun. The name appears to be
related to the Latin “calenda,” but it is generally supposed that
this is only accidental, and that Kolyáda was one of the
appellations of the sun. Young boys and girls march through
the village or town and exact contributions of eatables by
reciting the kolyádas. In other places they sing, instead,
songs to a mythical being, Ovsén, on the eve of the New
Year. This Ovsén is some other representation of the sun.
During the Christmas festivity fortunes are told over a bowl
of water which is placed on the table, while in it are put rings,
earrings, salt, bread, pieces of coal. During the fortune-telling
they sing the bowl-songs, after each of which a ring, or the
like, is removed. After the fortune-telling follow the games and
the songs connected with these.
Spring songs are recited in the week after Easter. Soon
after, and lasting until the end of June, the round dance, the
khorovód, is danced upon some eminence, and the khorovód
songs, referring to love and marriage, are sung. There are still
other reminiscences of heathen festivals, of which the most
important is that to Kupála, on the night from the 23rd to the
24th of June, when the peasants jump over fires and bathe in
the river.
 The wedding-songs, of which there is a large number in the
long ceremony of the wedding (cf. Kotoshíkhin’s account of
the seventeenth century wedding, p. 143 et seq.) contain
reminiscences of the ancient custom of the stealing of the
bride, and, later, of the purchase of the bride. Most of the love
songs that are not part of the khorovód are detached songs of
the wedding ceremonial.
The beggar-songs are more properly apocryphal songs of
book origin, handed down from great antiquity, but not
preceding the introduction of Christianity. There are also
lamentations, charms, and other similar incantations, in which
both pagan and Christian ideas are mingled.
An account of the folksong will be found in Talvi’s Historical
View of the Languages and Literatures of the Slavic Nations,
New York, 1850; W. R. S. Ralston’s The Songs of the Russian
People, London, 1872; Russian Folk-Songs as Sung by the
People, and Peasant Wedding Ceremonies, translated by E.
Lineff, with preface by H. E. Krehbiel, Chicago, 1893. Also in
the following periodical articles: The Popular Songs of Russia,
in Hogg’s Instructor, 1855, and the same article, in Eclectic
Magazine, vol. xxxvi; Russian Songs and Folktales, in
Quarterly Review, 1874 (vol. cxxxvi). A number of popular
songs have been translated by Sir John Bowring in his
Specimens of the Russian Poets, both parts.

KOLYÁDKA

Beyond the river, the swift river,

Oy Kolyádka!
There stand dense forests:
In those forests fires are burning,
Great fires are burning.
Around the fires stand benches,
Stand oaken benches,
On these benches the good youths,
 The good youths, the fair maidens,
Sing Kolyáda songs,
Kolyáda, Kolyáda!
In their midst sits an old man;
He sharpens his steel knife.
A cauldron boils hotly.
Near the cauldron stands a goat.
They are going to kill the goat.
“Brother Ivánushko,
Come forth, spring out!”
“Gladly would I have sprung out,
But the bright stone
Drags me down to the cauldron:
The yellow sands
Have sucked dry my heart.”
Oy Kolyádka! Oy Kolyádka!

—From W. R. S. Ralston’s The Songs of the Russian People.

BOWL-SONG

A grain adown the velvet strolled—Glory!

No purer pearl could be—Glory!
The pearl against a ruby rolled—Glory!
Most beautiful to see—Glory!
Big is the pearl by ruby’s side—Glory!
Well for the bridegroom with his bride—Glory!

—From John Pollen’s Rhymes from the Russian.

A PARTING SCENE

“Sit not up, my love, late at evening hour,

Burn the light no more, light of virgin wax,
Wake no more for me till the midnight hour;
Ah, gone by, gone by is the happy time!
Ah, the wind has blown all our joys away,
And has scattered them o’er the empty field.
For my father dear, he will have it so,
And my mother dear has commanded it,
That I now must wed with another wife,
With another wife, with an unloved one!
But on heaven high two suns never burn,
Two moons never shine in the stilly night,
And an honest lad never loveth twice!
But my father shall be obeyed by me,
And my mother dear I will now obey;
To another wife I’ll be wedded soon,
To another wife, to an early death,
To an early death, to a forcèd one.”

Wept the lovely maid many bitter tears,

Many bitter tears, and did speak these words:
“O belovèd one, never seen enough,
Longer will I not live in this white world,
Never without thee, thou my star of hope!
Never has the dove more than one fond mate,
And the female swan ne’er two husbands has,
Neither can I have two belovèd friends.”

No more sits she now late at evening hour,

But the light still burns, light of virgin wax;
On the table stands the coffin newly made;
In the coffin new lies the lovely maid.

—From Talvi’s Historical View.

THE DOVE

On an oak-tree sat,
Sat a pair of doves;
And they billed and cooed
And they, heart to heart,
Tenderly embraced
With their little wings;
On them, suddenly,
Darted down a hawk.

One he seized and tore,

Tore the little dove,
With his feathered feet,
Soft blue little dove;
And he poured his blood
Streaming down the tree.
Feathers, too, were strewed
Widely o’er the field;
High away the down
Floated in the air.

Ah! how wept and wept,—

Ah! how sobbed and sobbed
The poor doveling then
For her little dove.

“Weep not, weep not so,

Tender little bird!”
Spake the light young hawk
To the little dove.

“O’er the sea away,

O’er the far blue sea,
I will drive to thee
Flocks of other doves.
From them choose thee then,
Choose a soft and blue,
With his feathered feet,
Better little dove.”
 “Fly, thou villain, not
O’er the far blue sea!
Drive not here to me
Flocks of other doves.
Ah! of all thy doves
None can comfort me;
Only he, the father
Of my little ones.”

—From Talvi’s Historical View.

THE FAITHLESS LOVER

Nightingale, O nightingale,
Nightingale so full of song!
Tell me, tell me, where thou fliest,
Where to sing now in the night?
Will another maiden hear thee,
Like to me, poor me, all night
Sleepless, restless, comfortless,
Ever full of tears her eyes?
Fly, O fly, dear nightingale,
Over hundred countries fly,
Over the blue sea so far!
Spy the distant countries through,
Town and village, hill and dell,
Whether thou find’st anyone,
Who so sad is as I am?
 Oh, I bore a necklace once,
All of pearls like morning dew;
And I bore a finger-ring,
With a precious stone thereon;
And I bore deep in my heart
Love, a love so warm and true.
When the sad, sad autumn came,
Were the pearls no longer clear;
And in winter burst my ring,
On my finger, of itself!
Ah! and when the spring came on,
Had forgotten me my love.

—From Talvi’s Historical View.

ELEGY

O thou field! thou clean and level field!

O thou plain, so far and wide around!
Level field, dressed up with everything,
Everything; with sky-blue flowerets small,
Fresh green grass, and bushes thick with leaves;
But defaced by one thing, but by one!
For in thy very middle stands a broom,
On the broom a young grey eagle sits,
And he butchers wild a raven black,
Sucks the raven’s heart-blood glowing hot,
Drenches with it, too, the moistened earth.
Ah, black raven, youth so good and brave!
Thy destroyer is the eagle grey.
Not a swallow ’tis, that hovering clings,
Hovering clings to her warm little nest;
To the murdered son the mother clings.
And her tears fall like the rushing stream,
And his sister’s like the flowing rill;
Like the dew her tears fall of his love:
When the sun shines, it dries up the dew.

—From Talvi’s Historical View.

THE FAREWELL

Brightly shining sank the waning moon,

And the sun all beautiful arose;
Not a falcon floated through the air,
Strayed a youth along the river’s brim.
Slowly strayed he on and dreamingly,
Sighing looked unto the garden green,
Heart all filled with sorrow mused he so:
“All the little birds are now awake,
All, embracing with their little wings,
Greeting, all have sung their morning songs.
But, alas! that sweetest doveling mine,
She who was my youth’s first dawning love,
In her chamber slumbers fast and deep.
Ah, not even her friend is in her dreams,
Ah! no thought of me bedims her soul,
While my heart is torn with wildest grief,
That she comes to meet me here no more.”
 Stepped the maiden from her chamber then;
Wet, oh, wet with tears her lovely face!
All with sadness dimmed her eyes so clear,
Feebly drooping hung her snowy arms.
’Twas no arrow that had pierced her heart,
’Twas no adder that had stung her so;
Weeping, thus the lovely maid began:
“Fare thee well, belovèd, fare thee well,
Dearest soul, thy father’s dearest son!
I have been betrothed since yesterday;
Come, to-morrow, troops of wedding guests;
To the altar I, perforce, must go!
I shall be another’s then; and yet
Thine, thine only, thine alone till death.”

—From Talvi’s Historical View.

Sing, O sing again, lovely lark of mine,

Sitting there alone amidst the green of May!

In the prison-tower the lad sits mournfully;

To his father writes, to his mother writes:
Thus he wrote, and these, these were the very words:
“O good father mine, thou belovèd sir!
O good mother mine, thou belovèd dame!
Ransom me, I pray, ransom the good lad,—
He is your beloved, is your only son!”
Father, mother,—both,—both refused to hear,
Cursed their hapless race, cursed their hapless seed:
“Never did a thief our honest name disgrace,—
Highwayman or thief never stained the name!”

Sing, O sing again, lovely lark of mine,

Sitting there alone in the green of May!
 From the prison-tower thus the prisoner wrote,
Thus the prisoner wrote to his belovèd maid:
“O thou soul of mine! O thou lovely maid!
Truest love of mine, sweetest love of mine!
Save, O save, I pray, save the prisoned lad!”
Swiftly then exclaimed that belovèd maid:
“Come, attendant! Come! Come, my faithful nurse!
Servant faithful, you that long have faithful been,
Bring the golden key, bring the key with speed!
Ope the treasure chests, open them in haste;
Golden treasures bring, bring them straight to me:
Ransom him, I say, ransom the good lad,
He is my beloved, of my heart beloved.”

Sing, O sing again, lovely lark of mine,

Sitting there alone amidst the green of May!

—From Sir John Bowring’s Specimens of the Russian Poets, Part II.

WEDDING GEAR

The blacksmith from the forge comes he—Glory!

And carries with him hammers three—Glory!
O blacksmith, blacksmith, forge for me—Glory!
A wedding crown of gold, bran-new!—Glory!
A golden ring, oh, make me, do!—Glory!
With what is left a gold pin too!—Glory!
The crown on wedding day I’ll wear—Glory!
On golden ring my troth I’ll swear—Glory!
The pin will bind my veil to hair—Glory!

—From John Pollen’s Rhymes from the Russian.

THE SALE OF THE BRAID