Dr. Kenneth Smith
USA / The Philippines



Initially a US Civil Service Management Intern, then a management analyst & systems specialist with the US Defense Department, Ken Smith subsequently had a career as a senior foreign service officer -- management & evaluation specialist, project manager, and in-house facilitator/trainer -- with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Ken assisted host country governments in many countries to plan, monitor and evaluate projects in various technical sectors; working ‘hands-on’ with their officers as well as other USAID personnel, contractors and NGOs. Intermittently, he was also a team leader &/or team member to conduct project, program & and country-level portfolio analyses and evaluations.
Concurrently, Ken had an active dual career as Air Force ready-reservist in Asia (Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines) as well as the Washington D.C. area; was Chairman of a Congressional Services Academy Advisory Board (SAAB); and had additional duties as an Air Force Academy Liaison Officer. He retired as a ‘bird’ colonel.
After retirement from USAID, Ken was a project management consultant for ADB, the World Bank, UNDP and USAID.
He earned his DPA (Doctor of Public Administration) from the George Mason University (GMU) in Virginia, his MS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT Systems Analysis Fellow, Center for Advanced Engineering Study), and BA & MA degrees in Government & International Relations from the University of Connecticut (UCONN). A long-time member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and IPMA-USA, Ken is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and a member of the PMI®-Honolulu and Philippines Chapters.
Ken’s book -- Project Management PRAXIS (available from Amazon) -- includes many innovative project management tools & techniques; and describes a “Toolkit” of related templates available directly from him at kenfsmith@aol.com on proof of purchase of PRAXIS.
Dr. Ken Smith can be contacted at kenfsmith@aol.com
Profile updated October 2020
Articles and Papers
- On Critical Chain Scheduling & Buffering - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Ground Truthing and other Lessons Learned over a 60 Year Career, Interview with Dr. Ken Smith, Author, Consultant, PM Pioneer - Interview - Smith -
- What is the Value of Value? - Second Edition - Smith -
- Assessing Customer & Constituent Satisfaction: ACSI, & the “Misfortune 500” Index - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Once More on Earned Value: A Third Dimension - Commentary - Smith -
- Analyzing Risks “By the Numbers” - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Traveling the Critical Path - Personal Story - Smith -
- Monitoring & ANALYZING Project COSTS: PMBOK+PLUS Tools & Templates to Facilitate Financial Analysis - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Schedule Slippages, Root Causes & Recommended Remedies - Advisory Article - Smith -
- On the War in Ukraine and lines in the sand - Letter to the Editor - Smith -
- ‘GAME THEORY’: Another Technique to Supplement Pre-Project Risk Assessment or Post-Project Evaluation - Advisory Article - Smith -
- On the Subject of War Gaming and Ukraine - Letter to the Editor - Smith -
- The “P’s” & “Q’s” of Assessing Program & Project ‘Outcome’ Effectiveness - Commentary - Smith -
- On the Subject of PMI’s PMBOK Guide, 7th Edition - Letter to the Editor - Smith -
- Sampling for More Effective & Efficient Program/Project Progress Reporting - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Polling People and Pollsters: Facts and Fiction - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Assessing Program & Project Performance with the ‘THAI-SCALE’ Technique and Template - Advisory Article - Smith -
- On the Solving of Pythagorus’ Theorem - Letter to the Editor - Smith -
- Musings on Management of the Planning Kind: The ‘Learning Curve’ Conundrum - Commentary - Smith -
- Decision Trees, EMV and Thee - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Comprehending Cost : Effectiveness - Advisory Article - Smith -
- USAID, PM Best Practices, an Interview and a Life Story - Personal Story - Smith -
- Better bottom-line benefit/cost analysis for multi-year projects - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Internal Controls for Project Managers: How to Audit Yourself Before the Auditor Audits You - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Managing Project & Strategic Objectives with Logframe Analysis and the Logical Framework - Advisory Article - Smith -
- On the Logical Framework - Letter to the Editor - Smith -
- Personality-typing Tool to Improve Team-Building - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Just in Time Line of Balance - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Risk Exposure, Murphy’s Law & Management Reserve - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Realistic Time Estimates Revisited - Advisory Article - Smith -
- On the Subject of Black Elephants - Letter to the Editor - Smith -
- Setting Realistic Performance Bonuses for Program & Project implementation Personnel - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Adding Value to Earned Value: The PISA P (PI) Chart for Monitoring Project Implementation - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Estimating Realistic Activity Times: A Critical Pseudoscience Problem and Workaround Solution - Advisory Article - Smith -
- Understanding & Applying Earned Value: A ‘Quick & Easy’ Approach for Monitoring Project Implementation - Advisory Article - Smith -
- A Practitioner’s Guide to the PMO - Advisory Article - Smith -
- EVALUATION: The Project Management Cycle’s Sixth Dimension - Commentary - Smith -