The Dangers of Arrogance in Project Management

Introduction

In last month’s editorial, I discussed the Deepwater Horizon project failure and environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, suggesting some possible errors and issues that may have been factors. While I felt that this story was too important for the project management field to ignore, I think that I may have made the classic error of “jumping to conclusions”. This was, of course, pointed out to me by some of our readers who suggested, maybe you should wait until the investigation is concluded and “the facts are in”. I think this might be good advice; as I have gotten older, I have found that in most cases when I jump to conclusions without having all of the facts, my conclusions are wrong. Was my editorial last month based on my own “arrogance” as a project management expert?

Meanwhile, earlier this month I saw a press release from a software company that identified “the top thinkers in project management today.” When I surveyed the list, I found that many were quite young, all were from IT or software industries, none had aerospace, construction, energy, infrastructure or science backgrounds (where the most complex projects tend to be), none were leading academics or researchers, and most were from the USA. And the company itself is less than 10 years old, maybe younger. Nothing against the PM professionals listed by the company as “ the top thinkers”, and they probably had nothing to do with being listed, but I could think of many professional leaders, professors and researchers around the world who probably know more about project management than the individuals on the list, and much more than I do for that matter.

Having created a good blog, written a book or worked for Microsoft, for example, does not put you in the same league of project management experts (real thought leaders) like Professors Peter Morris (UK), David Cleland (USA), Sergey Bushuev (Ukraine), Roland Gareis (Austria), Christophe Bredillet (France), Ralf Müller (Germany), Hiroshi Tanaka (Japan), Lynn Crawford (Australia), Rodney Turner (UK), Pieter Steyn (South Africa), Dean Kashiwagi (USA), Darren Dalcher (UK), Kim Wikström (Finland), Brane Semolic (Slovenia) and many others, in my opinion. There are also many others in industry who are also now leading the way in large industries. For example, Dr. Ed Hoffman at NASA, where complex program and project management practices are still being advanced, and Bob Prieto, senior vice president at Fluor, who is advancing our knowledge regarding the management of mega programs in various industries and parts of the world. This is not to mention such PM pioneers as Russ Archibald and Alan Stretton, both in their 80s, who are still publishing fantastic papers and expanding our knowledge about PM.

How arrogant of this company, I thought, to announce the top thinkers in the field of project management. Unbelievable! Although it might be easy to just consider it marketing or PR by that particular company, undoubtedly some of their customers and stakeholders will believe them. On the other hand, others will be sure to react as I did. In any case, I have been thinking about “arrogance” ever since.

Then this week, someone mentioned to me an issue at his office related to dealing with unqualified managers who think they are smarter than they actually are. In his case, the managers have less experience and knowledge than some in their departments. These managers may have gotten their jobs by knowing the right person, being in the right place at the right time, or even office politics. But now that they have their management position, he or she thinks that they are better than those below them…

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