A seminar participant said: "Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes." So, how many of you are at work -- fight now -- on "mediocre successes"? At work on projects that won't be recalled, let alone recalled with fondness and glee, a year from now?

We don't study professional service firms. (Mistake.) And we don't study WOW Projects. (Worse mistake.) There is, of course, a project management literature. But it's awful. Or, at least, misleading. It focuses almost exclusively on the details of planning and tracking progress and totally ignores the important stuff like: Is it cool? Is it beautiful? Will it make a difference? My No. 1 epithet: "On time ... on budget ... who cares?" I.e., does it matter? Will you be bragging about it two -- or ten -- years from now? Is it a WOW project?

So, then: Step #1 ...the organization ...the professional service firm/PSF 1.0. Step 2 ...the individual ...the pursuit of distinction/Brand You. And: Step #3 ... the work itself ... the memorable project/WOW Projects.

The Projects 50 is a simple and handy guide that provides 50 easy steps to help the modern businessperson choose the fight project, find the right team, develop strategies for success, and ultimately know when it's time to move on.