Successful Projects: Planning the Future Ahead

 

Projects are the way organizational strategy comes to life, they realize visions and can make dreams come true. Projects are not simply a piece of work to be planned, managed and delivered. They are not simply an end, but a mean to something bigger.   Projects make an impact : they can transform lives.

However, the dominant paradigm of project management is still execution-oriented only, with project managers being taught that their role is to get things done. My view is that we need a different mindset, one that accounts for the real impact of projects. A mindset that:

• Understands projects as part of a wider picture, legacies that we leave for the future

• Goes beyond merely getting the job done but rather addresses impacts in the short-term and in the long-term

• Is inclusive, meaning that all stakeholders are considered instead of just the Project Board

• Measures success beyond the attainment to the triple constraint by putting the emphasis in the realization of outcomes and benefits

• Sees project professionals as agents of transformation instead of mere spectators

• Has at its core the purpose of value for many, and not simply value for money

Let’s not forget that the world is facing dramatic demographic and societal time-critical issues that demand our attention: a refugee crisis, hunger and poverty, or the climate changes and its implications for the planet, just to mention a few. As project management professionals, we are well positioned to be the change we want to see in the world. We have a tremendous opportunity and an imperative responsibility to make the world a better place for the future.

Once our perspective and our timescale horizons are expanded, sustainability and meaningfulness come into play. Sustainability, the ability to meet the needs of current generations without compromising the needs of future ones, is slowly gaining traction in the project management arena and you don’t need to be an expert, or go for green projects only, to be part of it - more to come on this topic soon, stay tuned! In summary, it’s a brand new different way to look at our profession and it’s the way project practitioners can be heroes and save the world.

Make no mistake, much is at stake! Our projects are our legacy to the future. Let’s make it a good one.

The world of tomorrow is created today, through our projects. How could you participate more?