Will Project Management ever stop evolving?

Yes, they are scalable and can and do address all valid complaints coming in, in a reasonable time.

The motivation or knowledge to complain seems to be an issue. Have you issued a complaint yet?
Never came across unethical behavior?

Thomas

Unique take Alfredo. Evolution is a sign of growth and development so it is encouraged in general. Project Management is a technical field but requires both hard and soft skills. It may be difficult for some who primarily like working by themselves, getting the job done, and leaving but neglect the people-centric aspect of it. The duality of project management makes it difficult to fully adjusted on the spot, it takes time and most likely, mistakes will be made.

I believe project management isn't overly complex but there are individuals that make it seem that way. With a wide scope, there is a collective of influencers, gurus, and thought leaders that are constantly trying to determine what works, and what doesn't, selling their own methodologies which can be overwhelming.

Moreover, best practices are dependent on the project and the industry not so? I don't think is possible to implement the same practices on every project as every project is unique. The title of best practices would be subjective for some.

I think the confusion comes when individuals stray away from the fundamentals in favor of whatever new shiny tool, software, or technique is on the market.

Last but not least I believe there is a point where the complexity reaches a high point or near breaking point. Where even the best of the best and the most intelligent experience major difficulties. I can provide two cases.

(1) When a project is the first of its kind- For example the space station. Can you imagine the thought process of the project team and engineers that they would have to build an architecture to be put into space that houses human beings? No lessons learned or historical information to depend on with a high aptitude to risk to occur.

(2) Mega Projects- According to the Oxford Handbook of Megaproject Management, "Megaprojects are large-scale, complex ventures that typically cost $1 billion or more, take many years to develop and build, involve multiple public and private stakeholders, are transformational, and impact millions of people"
In those projects, there are aspects that there are projects to manage within the core project. Along with a project due date that usually takes more than a decade to complete.

Projects are not easy. If you walk all the way from the very beginning to the end you understand its complexity. Most of the time you’re the PM in the middle of the project or doing a fraction of it. For example, the development of a vaccine, could take years to get into the arms of people. Or a mission to the moon, or a bluetooth device. It sometimes seems easy because you are walking over the shoulders of giants that make things with "experimented easiness". As PM you are the last frontier between an idea and the reality. You are there to be sure that what you are doing worth the money invested.

Best practices are also a buzz word indicating that how to do things in every single field of application, i.e. every industry has their own set of best practices, but they are about the same, doing things safer. E.g.: Software coders like to work Agile because they think they are too smart and they do not need to tell others how to do it because they do not want to waste time documenting. In fact, Agile was born out of complex software projects, too complex that documenting and understanding everything was too complex. But at the end of the day you need to know if what you are developing is safe to use, or if this won't damage more things. I can resume a best practice to test each part to comply, test the sum of the parts to comply, test the parts in the production copy environment and then put it into production, having to know how to return if things go wrong. The ITIL I know taught me that the change is bad, but you have to do it.

There's Pareto Rule, you do the 80% of the results with the 20% of the effort. But it also signal that you have to walk all the road to close the project satisfying customers. The shortcuts appear sooner or later. Also the compromises and the criteria. A statistics like (Top 10 Causes of Project Failure & How to Prevent Them (2022) (project-management.com):

According to a 2019 KPMG, AIPM, and IPMA global survey:

Only 19% of organizations deliver successful projects, at least most of the time
Only 30% of organizations deliver on time
Only 36% deliver projects on budget
Only 44% deliver projects that meet original goal and business intent
Only 46% of projects delivered receive stakeholder satisfaction

Or "Reducing I.T. Project Management Failures: Early Empirical Results | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore"

The James Webb Telescope was late 10 years and costed 10x its initial budget.

Please do not take easy. The bigger the project, the more toll in your heart…

Thanks for the information. No, I haven't issued a complaint or come across unethical behavior at this point. Well, at least teams I have worked with.

"Projects are not easy. If you walk all the way from the very beginning to the end you understand its complexity. Most of the time you’re the PM in the middle of the project or doing a fraction of it. " I strongly agree on this point.

The role and responsibilities of the project manager are very demanding and stressful. From my perspective projects aren't meant to be easy. An endeavor that final output to deliver produce, service, or end result with a lasting impact would come with a toll as you said. "The bigger the project, the more toll on your heart..."

For that reason, that is exactly why it should evolve. As it evolves, the introduction of much need innovations, solutions, ideas, tools, techniques, software, etc. This in turn would make things easier for project managers. Example A.I tools that handle particular processes or systems on the side so the project manager can handle the loaded work.

Isn't one of the reasons why Agile and its methodologies were made due to make things easier and more compact? I.T Projects are well known for their high failure rate compared to other types of projects. Therefore a solution was provided to due with ailing problems that affect I.T project managers and team members.

To this end, let us look back at the basic reasons for projects.
(1) Fulfill a need
(2) Solve a problem
(3) Exploit an opportunity
(4) Fulfill a legal requirement

Now turn this list on its head so that it can apply to project management itself. There are needs to be fulfilled, existing problems to be solved, opportunities to be exploited, and continuing requirements and compliance to be completed within the field itself.

That is why I think evolution is imperative or at least a robust focus on adaptation.

Thoughts?

Appreciated