Critical chain project management
It takes a genius to explain complex things in an easy and simple manner. 'Critical Chain' book by Goldratt is a true example. The entire concept of critical chain is explained in the form of a story, which is very easy to understand.. With the understanding of constraints, elevation of constraints, feeder buffer, project buffer, resource buffer and critical chain, a whole new world of opportunity opens up while scheduling projects.
Developed by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) is based on methods and algorithms derived from his theory of constraints. The idea of CCPM was introduced in 1997 in his book, Critical Chain. Application of CCPM has been credited with achieving projects 10% to 50% faster &/or cheaper than the traditional methods (ie. CPM, PERT, Gantt, etc.) developed from 1910 to 1950's. From numerous studies by Standish Group and others for traditional project management methods, only 44% of projects typically finish on time, projects usually complete at 222% of the duration originally planned, 189% of the original budgeted cost, 70% of projects fall short of their planned scope (technical content delivered), and 30% are cancelled before completion. These traditional statistics are mostly avoided through CCPM. Typically, CCPM users report 95% on-time and on-budget completion when CCPM is applied correctly. (from wikipedia)