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PERT

PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Method) are project management techniques used to plan, schedule, and control projects.

PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) was introduced in 1957–1958 by the U.S. Navy for managing the Polaris submarine missile program.

It was developed by a Navy team working with Booz Allen Hamilton and Lockheed to handle the complex scheduling and uncertainty of large defense projects.

Key innovation: PERT introduced the idea of modeling a project as a network of activities with:

• Three time estimates for each task (optimistic, most likely, pessimistic)
• Statistical calculations to estimate the probable project duration and identify the critical path

Purpose: To manage projects where activity durations were uncertain, allowing better risk assessment and planning compared to traditional Gantt charts or fixed timelines.

Historical impact: PERT was one of the first formal project management tools and laid the foundation for modern project scheduling and risk analysis methods.

There is a very interesting interview called Some Reflections on PERT and Project Management with Charles S. Enright and Robert L. Hamilton (retired), from MITRE Corporation as interviewed by Ronald M. Lehrer, from Systematic Management Services, Inc.