I read Mr Shmaltz’s book - The Blind Man and the Elephant some years ago. It was a wonderful, short treatise on project management. Having just found his blog, I highly recommend this article:
Why Project Managers Can’t Manage Projects
It’s a little abstract, but very insightful. “Who are the chickens?” you might ask - well, most of you are. You’re in control, but nobody seems to acknowledge that (often including you), and that’s why the project fails.