>>First of all, I don't consider myself an "expert". Rather I simply believe that if there's a reason that is quantifiable for breaking "the rules", then by all means do so.
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>>OTOH, I think that, in most cases, following the rules demonstrates a long term benefit.
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>>The thing is, in order to follow the rules and to know when to break them requires that the rules, and their purpose, are understood in the first place.
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>True, I agree, it's helpful to know the "rules." Then you can look at them and decide if they are valid. For me, many are, but many are not. I guess my antipathy for these highly formalized approaches is that I have seen so many projects where they study things to the nth degree,then never deliver. Managing the project becomes the project.

John,

I don't know if you're working as a single developer or not, but two of Steve McConnell's books deal with project and risk management.