The Art of Project Management

“The Art of War” was written by Sun Tzu a Chinese General who lived over 2500 years ago.  This book has for very good reason been touted as essential reading for military leaders but people from many other fields also benefit from his insights. It’s not an easy read but reader freindly adaptations of his book surface regularly with many of these have a focus on a perticular disciplines for example, executives, salespeople, and even golfers.  To my knowledge it has not yet been adapted to IT. I often think about how this book relates to IT project management practices and methodologies.  

The Art of War can be interpreted as a project management framework in the sense that it consists of guidelines, strategies and methods for dealing with various situations. He deals extensively and expertly with what we know as Risk Management in particular the ways of anticipating and mitigating various challenges.  He dispenses sound advice about the virtues of winning wars without fighting battles.  Sun Tzu also comments extensively on the characteristics of a good leader and standards for efficiency and effectiveness. Though written for a different audience and purpose I find that many of the principles he lays out can be adapted to help us manage our teams, our projects and the situations we face daily.

Sun Tzu encourages us to be flexible, to respect the uniqueness of each and every situation.  We should not rely blindly on methodologies and frameworks not even on his guidelines. In the end decisions must be made by people rather than on behalf of people.  Conversely he cautions that an absence of standards and methods will lead to chaos.  Standards are for us to adapt and to blend with our experiences and most importantly to adapt to the task and circumstances at hand.

Having frameworks and methodologies should not be a substitute for creativity and innovation but rather should encourage and guide them.