Praise for ‘Leading Projects with Data’

Leading Projects with Data focuses not only on using data and analytics to improve project performance but also on the psychological, cultural, and behavioral changes that must be implemented. This approach ensures we transition to a supportive culture and collaborative mindset rather than just the technology itself. Many experts emphasize that the primary problem with technology is not the technology itself but rather the human-related hurdles to adapt to and benefit from it. I am confident that Mr. Glowasz’s book will significantly impact anyone looking to leverage data, analytics, and technology to produce better projects

Recently, Gartner claimed that 80% of today’s Project Management tasks will be eliminated by 2030 as Artificial Intelligence takes over. On the other hand, the Project Economy claims that the future of work is about projects. How will this impact the fate of project management? Developing data analysis competencies will certainly play an essential role. In his book, Leading Projects with Data, Marcus Glowasz brings a compelling new perspective. He confirms that data-driven approaches will help to having more transparency and a better understanding of the project portfolio, but also proposes a purpose- and knowledge-driven approach to establish the right behaviors and mindset in the teams to increase project success with the use data-informed practices. If you are a project leader or someone eager to learn about the future of project management, I highly recommend reading his book.

Marcus Glowasz’s Leading Projects with Data offers valuable perspectives on the central role that data plays in innovation and project management. His discussion of the rise of data and analytics, and the important need to deliver true business value are at the heart of this instructive and very readable book.  Recommended for data and analytics leaders seeking to leverage data to improve project delivery practices and achieve positive business outcomes.

This is a fantastic book within the world of data literacy and one that I feel non-data professionals can truly value from, as well as data professionals, but from different perspectives. Non-data professionals may not know how to bring data into a project but may have strong project management skills, and data professionals may not know how to lead projects. This book is a gem, allowing the reader and individuals to recenter and refocus their work, to bring projects to life and utilize data to do so. It is must-have reading for data-driven people, teams, and organizations.

Based on his experience managing projects in the technology and financial services industries, Marcus Glowasz, delivers a clarion call for the project management profession to adopt a more data-driven approach to managing projects. Marcus clearly recognizes that where the profession once was at the forefront, it now lags in use of data to deliver value to our customers, stakeholders and fellow team members. Leading Projects with Data is a must for any project leader wanting to use data and analytics more effectively and to move up the DIKW pyramid (data-information-knowledge-wisdom). Readers will find the chapter takeaways as well as charts and graphics to aid in the journey to build data-informed project management practices at their organizations.

This book delivers an inspiring message about the value of project data.  Marcus provides amazing insights regarding the data-informed approach to managing projects in an easy-to-read format full of stories and analogies.  From concepts such as dark data to the quality of project decisions, the book presents models and research to demonstrate how using data successfully will improve project performance.  Actions are identified that will help all project practitioners excel at managing their projects.

The magic of this book is that, whatever your starting point is, it provides you with actionable insights. By looking at how data is a key component of any organizational culture through the lenses of purpose, knowledge and behavior, each single chapter will give you suggestions to improve the way data is used to increase the rate of success of your projects.

It’s time for a paradigm shift in Project Management.  We can make a major improvement in the success rate of our projects!  And although data is king, it is the people that must ultimately drive this needed change.  This book is AWESOME! Marcus really did his homework and then combined that with his real-world project management experience.  He provides the insight and evidence that will change your mindset and spark your transformation journey for leading projects with data.

The pace of change is dramatically increasing year after year in the world, but project management, that is the discipline that helps us to implement the change through projects, has barely evolved in the last decades. Is not this a paradox? This book opens our mind, proposing us to move to a data-informed project management approach, showing us how to gather data applying different practices, data that combined with people´s expertise and skills, will help us to increase the success rate of our projects.

Leading Projects with Data highlights the essential element of data-informed project management—the human experience in building knowledge to enhance the performance of projects and project management.  The human experience and intuition, along with data analytics, enable project workers to make better-informed decisions in complexity and uncertainty.  Glowasz identifies the dimensions that enable organizations to transform to data-led projects –purpose, behavior, and knowledge.  From this book, project workers and organizations will assess their ways of working to enable data and analytics to become a crucial part of project knowledge and best-value performance.

It’s always exciting when a new author effectively makes the case for improving the way we do project management. And Marcus Glowasz certainly does that in his new book, Leading Projects with Data. I especially enjoyed the section on finding purpose, and wholeheartedly agree with him that a sound purpose will “set free hidden energy, bind people together and foster an environment of trust, transparency, and accountability.”

Glowasz has issued an invitation to all Project Managers to join the “Knowledge Party” – to establish and leverage data-informed project management practices and to bring and apply their own hard won project management wisdom. More importantly, he outlines the behavioural and cultural challenges facing real transparency in projects and offers some resolutions to help project managers resolve such issues and deliver true value to their organization.

Marcus was able to show new options in dealing with projects without underestimating the central element, the human being, in its importance for success. He has succeeded in creating a symbiosis of proven and tested approaches with intelligent data analysis that can help reduce uncertainty and position AI exactly where it can have the greatest effect, in helping to generate benefits.