Whats wrong with relying on the CPM critical path?
The CPM critical path highlights the activities in the schedule which have a combined total float of zero. As every project manager knows, a delay in these activities will cause the entire project to finish behind schedule. However, awareness of the CPM critical path is only the tip of the iceberg. Besides the CPM critical path, there are typically many “hidden critical paths” which have a duration float of slightly less than the CPM critical path. If the project manager is unaware of these paths, and the activities included within them, there is a high probability that the lack of close management attention to these non-CPM activities will result in the project finishing late. Consider the following situations: • The CPM critical path is not the longest path in the schedule. Without applying the HCP Method, there is no way to discover the longest path in the schedule, or to know which tasks within it require close management attention. If things should change during project execution
