Stephen Devaux
Bajan-born Steve Devaux is a project management theorist, consultant and academic. He developed TPC, an ROI-based approach to project planning and analysis, as well as such new techniques as critical path drag and the value breakdown structure (VBS). He founded Analytic Project Management in 1992 and has consulted to industries ranging from software to aerospace. He has an M. Sc. in PM from Northeastern University and has taught graduate courses at Brandeis U., Suffolk U. and UWI Barbados.
Subjects: Business & Management
Biography
Steve Devaux was born in Barbados and immigrated to the US at the age of 15. After serving in US Army Military Intelligence in Vietnam, he graduated from UMass/Boston with a B.A. in English and teaching certification. After a few years working on financial software training projects, he discovered the methodology of project management in 1987 and has worked ever since to its techniques and usage.Steve's first book Total Project Control (1999) introduced readers to ROI-based project evaluation and a range of new techniques and metrics including critical path drag, drag cost, the value breakdown structure (VBS) and DIPP project value tracking. Since then, he has published numerous articles and book chapters on using enhanced project management methods in applications ranging from defense systems to oil and gas projects to emergency response.
As an avid tournament chess and backgammon player, Steve acquired a strong interest in game theory and recognized that the essence of every project is as an investment. This led to his first theoretical article “When the DIPP Dips: a P&L Index for Project Decisions” in the September 1992 issue of Project Management Journal, and to other innovations that are now being included in modern software packages.
Steve started his own consulting company Analytic Project Management in 1992, and has an M.Sc. degree in Project Management from Northeastern University.
An avid fan of all sports, Steve is known on many Internet project management and cricket sites as “Steve the Bajan”.
Education
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M.Sc. in Project Management, Northeastern University, 2010.
B.A. in English, University of Massachusetts at Boston, 1976.
Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2001.
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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Project management, program management, project portfolio management, time value/cost analysis, project recovery, earned value management, project scheduling.
Personal Interests
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Chess, backgammon, cricket, baseball, basketball, Russian literature, jazz.
Books
Articles
The Value Breakdown Structure (VBS): Features and Benefits
Published: Jun 16, 2014 by 3D Work Breakdown Structure
Authors: Stephen A. Devaux
An explanation of the importance of developing a value breakdown structure that defines the scope into mandatory and optional components and work, and that estimates the value-added of optional work. The guiding principles of a VBS, how to develop one and how to use it along with critical path drag and drag cost computation to ensure the the project does not include work which is costing more than its value-added.
The Drag Efficient: The Missing Quantification of Time on the Critical Path
Published: Jan 31, 2012 by Defense AT&L Magazine
Authors: Stephen A. Devaux
The importance of critical path drag computation for schedule compression, and how to compute it in an all-FS network. How to compute drag cost and true cost, and some historical examples of when drag cost was measured in human lives lost.