Book excerpt: This book is about framing value. This value framework is built upon its constituent elements: performance, cost, time, and risk. These are in turn communicated through a common language -- that of function. If the language of function is the lingua franca, then each of the aforementioned elements possesses its own vernacular. This book attempts to show how fluency in each of these variables is essential to understanding value. The rise of the professional fields of project and program management has created a kind of renaissance in the managerial sciences. Projects are largely about things, whereas traditional management is mostly about people. The merger of these concepts has created a demand for knowledge in how to best manage both through the synthesis of theory and applied techniques. The management of scope, cost, schedule, communications, quality, and risk are all core knowledge areas within the modern practice of project management. The theories and techniques of Value Methodology provide a means of considering the synergistic effect of these components within the context of project management as they relate to project value.