Books by Charles Smith

My art came to me in 1970. Why it did...that's the part I can't figure out. It just popped up. When I was at Junior 5, an art teacher showed me how to do stars and that was that, but by the time I was 19 and trying to learn to read, I started scribbling and scrabbling. I learned to draw just by doing it.

There is more than a touch of ''The Emperor''s New Clothes'' in the way many organizations approach project management and the consequences are all too clear: project methodology inappropriately applied; little or no consideration of complexity or ambiguity; alienation of the stakeholders and a statistically poor record of performance for major business or infrastructure projects. Charles Smith''s groundbreaking book Making Sense of Project Realities offers convincing explanations as to why project management theory and practice have become disconnected and describes the kind of complex, human skills that are required to deliver successful projects. The text draws heavily on the experiences of practising project and programme managers from across private and public sector organizations, many of whose stories were shared and analysed during the two-year research network ''Rethinking Project Management'', which brought together thought leaders on project management from consultancy, industry and academia. The result is a highly readable, very credible and imaginative exploration of the nature of projects and programmes that will strike a chord with every project practitioner; a book that offers a realistic set of ideas for developing creative and effective project players, who understand the purpose of what they are doing, the context within which they are working, and the people with whom they need to engage. Update: Several MBA Courses use this book and the tutor feedback is encouragingly positive, including: "can be used from day one to change the mindset of the students concerning projects and their management."

This book shares the secrets of the coolest iPhone apps being built today by the best iPhone developers-invaluable knowledge for anyone who wants to create the app that everyone is talking about.

Economic development continues to be an area of interest to students on a variety of courses. The second edition of this book provides a lively and interesting introduction to the subject covering all of the major issues, including Third World debt, income distribution and environmental problems.