Blog #5: Project Management in History: Adolf Hitler and the Balkans Fragnet [1] is just up at the Total Project Control website This is a followup to the previous blog, Blog #4: Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Fragnet. Just click on the Blog button at the top of the page.
Today’s blog provides a historical example of a fragnet of “work” that Adolf Hitler saw fit to include as part of his 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. Many historians feel that the delay that was caused by his preceding operations on the Balkans flank was a major contributor to his failure to capture Moscow and defeat the Soviet Union at the end of 1941.
In project management terms, this means that the drag cost of the Balkans fragnet was greater than the value it added (i.e., the time by which it delayed Operation Barbarossa’s critical path was worth more than the strategic value of shoring up the invasion’s southern flank). Isn’t it good to know that sometimes bad project management can be very good for mankind?
Again, the Comments function is now working on the website. So please leave a comment on any of the blogs, the exercises or the site in general -- I will be delighted to respond.
Fraternally in project management,
Steve the Bajan