TABLE OF CONTENTS There are a number of implications for subscribing to the new paradigm of project management.
According to the prevailing paradigm, a project is a temporary endeavor to create something, e.g., a service or product. A project is something short lived based on balancing an eclectic selection of a series of tools, techniques, and principles. This definition leads to treating projects as an endeavor akin to getting the "damn thing built" and throwing the end result over the fence. It leads to a near-term myopic perspective that can have negative consequences beyond the completion of a project.
Under the new paradigm, quite simply, a project is redefined into something much broader in context by becoming a focused, integrated human endeavor to achieve a specific, common purpose.
A project is a human endeavor because it is, in the purest sense, a result of people using their energies to produce something. Without people, no project exists. Tools, techniques, or methodologies become merely means to an end, not the goal as is often the case.
A project is focused in that all the human resources are employed in a manner that achieves desired results. All decisions and actions are taken in the context of furthering the purpose of a project. Without focus, a project can become (or not become) an exercise in efficiency but also ineffectiveness. When that happens, of course, projects begin to have a life of their own.
A project is integrated in that...
