Acknowledgments

This book summarizes lessons learned in the field. It’s hard to say where each lesson came from; I haven’t been keeping track of that over the years. In some cases, I happen to know who created (or first published) a given metric. Those individuals are named in the text. Some are professional colleagues who do the same sort of work as I do; others were client personnel who came up with practical metrics in their own context. If I tried to recall all the names, I would surely forget a few and they might be offended. So it’s better not to name names. In most cases, I don’t know who created the metrics or exactly where I learned them.

It’s easier to acknowledge those who directly encouraged me to complete the book. First on that list is my wife Lourdes, who encouraged me to keep at it nearly every day for the past few years. Some of my friends and colleagues were aware that I was working on the book, and they also nagged me on a fairly regular basis to complete it.

I must say that Manning had a great deal to do with the fact this book ever saw the light of day. The folks there talked me out of abandoning the project on more than one occasion. I burned through two of their editors before finding one who could get the work out of me: Cynthia Kane. Special thanks to her and everyone else on the Manning team who worked with me during the writing and publication process. Thank you also to George Dinwiddie for contributing the foreword to my book.