An Editorial Observation
Chris Vandersluis's article in Computing Canada August 10, 2001 issue caused us to reflect over the years and we rather concluded that there has not been any significant new dedicated project management process, technique or art developed for several decades. And, except for the ubiquitous computer, there has not been any significant new project management tools either!
It seems that project management seminars at trade shows, and especially the annual symposium/seminars of major PM professional organizations are little more than rehashes of existing knowledge dressed up in new credentials. This unsatisfactory state appears to be exacerbated by the "Information Property" and "communications policies" of many project management organizations which also flows over into the explosion of "Global" PM trade shows. Consequently, feature speakers believe themselves responsible for no more than entertaining their jaded audience with lunch time humor rather than presenting "real time" project management knowledge.
For example, a current PM Trade Show has keynote speakers who are described variously as ".. best leadership and motivational guru", "One of the funniest speakers on the planet", "explains the five major milestones of effective communication" " a humorous and insightful look at the changing scope of professional development". Based on this hype none of these stand up management comics can be expected to deliver anything of substance about project management, only Lunch time entertainment! Either that, or we agree with Chris Vandersluis's assessment "that attendees found little of the information new and coming from consultants and vendors who are [simply] flogging their products".
Worse, we see this kind of PM entertainment hype spreading to local PM meetings. For example, one local meeting featured a speaker in these terms: "We are please to present a motivational inspirational speaker and distinguished toastmaster. He will take a peek into real life drama where indelible principles were absorbed during his formative years. He is a master at challenging his audience to use lateral thinking (etc, etc.) He promises entertainment, a powerful message and never a dull moment." Attendance at the meeting confirmed our worst fears. The presentation had nothing to do with project management and we were not impressed.
The current focus of PM professional organizations and academicians has been largely to institutionalize what was done some 30 years ago in defence acquisition project management and the Engineering Construction Procurement Industry. The creation of questionable standards further casts these concepts in concrete. No wonder we don't move forward.
Thus the project management body of knowledge is not a growing and thriving affair. And renaming and repackaging things as "collaborative" and "process driven" simply doesn't make it so. It is different in other professions such as the medical profession's body of knowledge which is expanding with new discoveries every day. That we haven't had any innovation in the PM industry in so long is a stunning indictment of this discipline.
It is interesting to reflect on the poor success rate in the IT project management industry over the past 10 years. Perhaps this is because the IT folks failed to learn from the defence and EPC processes developed and used with such success in the past. Instead, they have chosen to learn the hard way.
All of this is not to say that there have been no advances in project management research or practice but even what there is tends to be constrained by similar university copyright, or publishing rights, or commercial considerations. Hence, much of even this effort never sees the light of day in any meaningful way.
So, we are left with a project management body of knowledge that is finite and the result is a constant recapitulation and regurgitation of what has been previously published and presented. Clearly, it will take a true intellectual awakening and an organization of real courage to break this unfortunate pastime.