It is amazing how few Project Managers that are trained in a certain method actually know the underlying theories that make up Project Management.

Who cares? Whats the use?

Well actually, every PM should care. If you know the ideas that are behind a specific method, you will easier learn it, and, more important in my view, you see its limitations before you run into a brick wall.

Fair enough, this theoretic mumbo jumbo is not everyones cup of tea; so let me help you out by giving you my version of it all; and believe me, that version will have every scholar in Project Management do a back flip, but heck, it is just how I get it, and how I store that stuff in my brain; so, though luck for all of them¦ (grin).

Lets turn to plan-driven methods for a start. In essence, with such a method you should define every step that has to be performed in detail up front: the actual task, the time lines, the organization, and the procedures that should be followed. This will increase the predictability, stability, and high assurance of the process and the products it produces. You design a plan, you issue the orders, and you make sure everybody sticks to this original strategy. Examples are PMP and Prince2.

Lauri Koskela and Greg Howell describe in this paper what the underlying theories are for the plan-driven PM methods. This entry is based on how I parse their text in my mind.

First of all, there is not one theory that explains project management; it is a collection of several fundamental ideas, the theory of project, and theories of management.

Theory Of Project

The theory of project views tasks and operations as a transformation process. So, you have some inputs, a change happens, and presto, you get some outputs. You throw some garbage in, the team has a go at it, and you get some garbage out. You provide requirements specifications as input, the operation programming starts, and the end result is some running program.

Like some Russian Babooska (the little dolls that have little dolls in them) each transformation can consist of multiple smaller transformation. Requirements specification A, B and C are input, Programming A, B and C happens, and you get as output program A, B and C. The management principles behind this all use the fact that you can play with the inputs, outputs and decomposition of the tasks.

Theory Of Management

To describe the management part, three theories are needed: management-as-planning, the dispatching model and the thermostat model.

The idea behind management-as-planning is, that management sokes up all the information about the process, creates a detailed sequence of actions, with time and resources assigned, throws the plan to the operational level and yells just do what the plan says. This last part is the dispatching model: you issue an order down the chain of command that someone has to start on a task, and that will be it; the worker will automatically without any hesitation or problem start working on it.

If you have the management-as-planning view of the world you think that there is a direct relationship between what is on paper (the planning) and what happens in reality.

If you are creating a plan that will be executed blindly, you must be very sure that you know exactly what must be done; you must almost be able to predict the future. And that is exactly what is the appeal of this approach to management: it provides a sense of predictability (no surprises will occur) and you have the ultimate control of the situation; change the planning, and all the working people will change what they are doing. Paper is reality.

If the paper plan is right, than any deviation from the plan in reality is evil. Enter The thermostat model. Control is in this model nothing more than looking for reality to be not in line with the plan, and kick the real world back into shape, so it fits the plan again. You define upfront the desired situation, you put in the thermometer ones in a while into the project, and when you dont have the desired temperature, you correct the process until you have your temperature.

From a management point of view, this is a good thing; the process is nice and predictable and you have ultimate control. But next time, I will turn to the part were reality kicks in the butt.