Viewing historical projects through this modern lens provides new insights into these  projects as most didn't follow any formalized method (this only became widely available after 1945) but a logical evolution.

 

 

 

For example, the layout outlines today’s business situation and IT project (top) vs the historical analogy (bottom). This makes the comparison more immediate and the lesson more obvious.












 

 

For example, a 1940 RAF operations center can be compared to a “real-time information dashboard displaying information aggregated from disparate sources, used for decision making." In reality an on demand solution or part of an adaptive enterprise. Understanding these concepts in a readily familiar (historical) environment increases understanding.            












 

 

For example, Titanic's safety features are analogous to non-functional requirements in today' IT projects like availability and security. In Titanic's construction project the design decisions were good but these were then compromised by business pressures. Non-functional requirements were sacrificed for functional requirements. Non-functionality is the characteristic that ensures the functionality is delivered. This helps to answer questions as to why Titanic ended up with 16 main lifeboats versus the originally planned 48.







For example, it looks at the challenges faced by the project like the availability of technologies and the integration of these, the effort and cost. It outlines the alternatives and the how eventually the project team arrived at the given solution.

It looks at historical projects through a modern lens where each chapter reflects one stage of the project (requirements to deployment through 6 stages, and 2 iterations).

The books intertwine the two project narratives or threads (modern/historical), in alternative paragraphs, throughout each section. This highlights the architects design decisions in the project and insights as to whether they were good or bad.

For many businesses today creating complex IT solutions may appear daunting. For example, an adaptive enterprise may seem very complex. However, viewing similar solutions from a previous era should inspire the reader. These solutions were achieved with a less sophisticated (inferior) technology, and less refined techniques and methods.         
 

It defines concepts such as functional and non-functional requirements in the context of the emerging technology from the past. Looking at a historical project with these concepts increases overall understanding. It then reexamines these concepts in the context of today's emerging technology, to provide further clarity.