A hierarchical decomposition of project work into smaller, manageable components organized in tree structure. It breaks complex projects into progressively detailed levels of tasks and deliverables.
Developed by the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1960s, combining 'work' (Old English 'weorc'), 'breakdown' (break + down), and 'structure' (Latin 'structura'). Created to manage complex defense and aerospace projects.
The work breakdown structure is like creating a recipe for building a skyscraper - you can't just say 'build building,' you need to break it down to 'pour foundation,' 'install plumbing,' etc. The 100-hour rule says no task should take longer than 100 hours, or it's too big to manage!
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