This was my first introduction to project management. As such, I'm not equipped with the conceptual vocabulary or experience to comment critically on the books' presentation as project management *per se*. But I can make the following observations:
* First, the book was very clear about its' purpose. Its' authors intent was to suggest a template for communicating to stakeholders not directly involved with the projects' complexities. They used a brilliant metaphor, a wrist-watch, to make this point. Project managers should know all the details of their projects (or, all of the gears and cogs in a wrist watch). But we should never forget the intent of the watch: not to display its' inner workings, but to tell time. That is important, and so the authors are more concerned with helping project managers "communicate the time" then demonstrate or understand the inner workings of every project.
* However, they do share enough of a background of the traditional and agile methods to where I, someone who doesn't know much about project management as a discipline, was able to follow along quite well. I thought they struck an excellent balance between telling too much and telling too little, a tension they name "serious simplicity" and showcase in their one-page project management worksheet.
All in all, a good read.