Project Management is the formal study of, and tools for, managing the sequence of steps and components in any complex project, whether a physical project or the abstract form of an enterprise. Founded in 1969, The Project Management Institute began formalizing and standardizing the various tools and protocols of project management, resulting ultimately with the publication of the Project Management Body of Knowledge PMBOK in 1996. In the intervening years, many books have been published that purport to offer guidance and exegesis to the PMBOK, but this new series of books by noted professor James Marion, will be the first to offer such guidance in our established concise introductory guide format. The series will consist of three books, and the first of these presents the big picture, including where a project manager should begin when managing projects, and how the project manager can easily make use of the PMBOK framework to progress from an initial idea to a project schedule.