This audiobook provides project managers with five simple checklists to manage projects using a standard work approach that contains most of the principles found in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). It’s not a substitute for the PMBOK but provides an approach that is consistent with the practices and principles found in the PMBOK.

If you manage projects, this audiobook will provide you a simple approach to deliver quality results, whether you’re just starting out or if you’ve been managing projects for years.

Use the Five Simple Checklists for the life cycle of project management and how to apply tools from the lean discipline. Lean is the systematic method for elimination of waste within your production system. Lean has typically been applied in a manufacturing environment, but is just as applicable in a services environment and for knowledge workers. The principles are focused on reducing waste and improving efficiencies throughout your processes. The philosophy is derived from the Toyota Production System (TPS). The Machine That Changed the World was written in 1991 and was based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s five million-dollar, five-year study on the future of the automobile.

This audiobook will provide project managers with an approach to simplify the complexity that has been compiled in the PMBOK. Managing projects is akin to managing chaos in many companies. I’ve seen so many different approaches that are applied with varying results. Complexity is the enemy of execution, and the Five Simple Checklists will reduce your complexity and improve your ability to execute.

This audiobook was created by Stephen Hightower, an information technology and management consultant who has been managing projects for over 30 years. He is a project management professional (PMP) and has had extensive program management training with General Electric and Lockheed Martin. During his career, he managed projects that saved millions of dollars consolidating IT infrastructure services, and delivered multimillion-dollar technology projects to provide new services, including construction and information security projects. In addition, he developed and set up a program management office (PMO) that was used to deliver over $30,000,000 in new infrastructure services for Lockheed Martin annually. He is certified in information systems security and the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) discipline. He developed training programs for information technology teams to deliver services using LSS, in addition to managing projects using his five simple checklists approach.