The Project Revolution

The Project Revolution, How to Succeed In A Project Driven World, by Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, LID Publishing 2019 

The examples of post-project investigations are abundant - the Space Shuttle "O"-ring disaster, Nixon's Watergate, Boeing's software problem - but as projects these events seemingly just rolled along.  And yet, as author Nieto-Rodriguez claims, they were each missing something.  Traditional project management techniques work in stable, predictable environments but in today's connected realities, too many factors can cause disruptions. 

The solutions the author recommends do not include yet more project planning - there is a human element that he ratchets up several notches.  The framework he proposes are called The Project Canvas, covered conceptually in Chapter 5, including the 14-dimension graphic showing how to organize work and include all the right participants.  Nieto-Rodrigues quotes Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove, project management thinkers, on  why management thinking needs to address better project management:

    People have an urge to overcomplicate and to reinvent.  This is especially true in the realm of management thinking where ideas are perpetually relabeled and recycled.  Project management sounds straightforward and somewhat traditional.  A lot of managers are uncomfortable with these two things.  They want something new and complicated, something that carries status.  The reality that project management is complex, multifaceted, and universal seems to have passed people by.  The fact that project management is not really taught at business schools perpetuates this. 

Throughout this book readers will find corporate examples, names like Glaxo-SmithKline, Northrup Grumman, Phillips, etc., as indicators of how the best project management is structured.  Further, the seven implementation steps, along with The Project Canvas, offer a good starting point for leaders who want to look at project management in a new way:

1.  Develop a standard set of terms and definitions relating to projects

2.  Develop a common project guideline based on the Project Canvas

3.  Develop training for executive sponsors

4.  Develop training for project leaders.