Travelling the Critical Path

By Dr. Kenneth Smith, PMP

Most of my civilian career was involved in Project Management: planning, scheduling, monitoring and evaluation – specifically the application of the Critical Path Method (CPM) and several directly-related tools & techniques.  [I first learned about the PERT/Critical Path Method (CPM) in 1961 as a civilian U.S. Navy Management Intern.]  So, I thought it might be useful to provide today’s practitioners with a quick summary of the Critical Path Method’s beginnings, and some innovative applications since those early days.

The first point I want to make is that Project Management is not new!  For thousands of years, numerous large-scale projects conceived by mankind’s ingenuity have been constructed in the service of past and present civilizations, and are still evident everywhere around the world; as well as hidden – and occasionally rediscovered — under its soil and oceans.

Most of my civilian career was involved in Project Management: planning, scheduling, monitoring and evaluation – specifically the application of the Critical Path Method (CPM) and several directly-related tools & techniques.  [I first learned about the PERT/Critical Path Method (CPM) in 1961 as a civilian U.S. Navy Management Intern.]  So, I thought it might be useful to provide today’s practitioners with a quick summary of the Critical Path Method’s beginnings, and some innovative applications since those early days.

The first point I want to make is that Project Management is not new!  For thousands of years, numerous large-scale projects conceived by mankind’s ingenuity have been constructed in the service of past and present civilizations, and are still evident everywhere around the world; as well as hidden – and occasionally rediscovered — under its soil and oceans.

For the full article click here in PM World Journal, Volume XI, Issue VII July 2022

For more information contact Dr. Kenneth Smith