Enlightened Planning

Chris Chapman is an experienced consultant, the basis of his research as Professor of Management Science at Southampton University. He has published widely on uncertainty, opportunity, and risk management for projects, operations and corporate management. He is a past President of the Operational Research Society.

"The book is extensively illustrated with detailed practical examples from real life, including calculations and charts. The rich conceptual content and practical detail mean this is not a book you can read over a weekend. But tackled patiently, a section at a time, over a period, it will make most intelligent managers into better managers." Matthew Leitch is a consultant, author, business school educator and risk standards committee member whose website is www.WorkingInUncertainty.co.uk"What the field urgently needs is thinking that takes us to the basics of what risk and uncertainty are, and looks at them in a fresh way. This book is indeed such thinking, introducing important new fundamental concepts such as ‘clarity efficiency’ and the ‘estimation-efficiency spectrum’" - Professor Terry Williams is Director of the Risk Institute, University of Hull, UK."The book is illustrated with practical examples drawn from the author’s long experience of working with businesses and government departments in wide range of different industries and countries. If you deploy only some of the tools and techniques that are described, it is difficult to see how your planning process cannot become more enlightened." - Martin Hopkinson is a project risk professional and author based in Winchester, UK.

• Foreword by Stephen Ward, Comments by other colleagues, Preface, Overview, About the author, Acknowledgements, Part 1 Foundations, 1 Why planning is usually vital but often difficult and frequently inept, 2 A ‘universal planning uncertainty and complexity management process’ (UP), 3 Low to high clarity approaches and the ‘estimation-efficiency spectrum’, 4 Confronting challenging complexities usually needing more clarity, Part 2 Employing planning tools in practice – five illustrative tales, 5 Using a UP – an initially simple supply chain management example, 6 Building ‘specific processes’ – a bidding process example, 7 Adapting ‘generic processes’ – a project planning example, 8 Corporate strategy formulation – an electricity utility example, 9 Building well-founded trust about complex concerns – a railway safety example, Part 3 Further synthesising and reflecting, 10 Immediate and longer term ‘what needs to be done’ priorities, 11 Ongoing enhancement of strategic clarity and tactical clarity, References, Index, Website information