Top 10 Reasons NOT to Use Project Management

(With apologies to David Letterman)

10. Our customers really love us, so they don't care if our products are late and don't work.

9. Organizing to manage projects isn't compatible with our culture, and the last thing we need around this place is change.

8. All our projects are easy, and they don't have cost, schedule, and technical risks anyway.

7. We aren't smart enough to implement project management without stifling creativity and offending our technical geniuses.

6. We might have to understand our customers' requirements and document a lot of stuff, and that is such a bother.

5. Project management requires integrity and courage, so they would have to pay me extra.

4. Our bosses won't provide the support needed for project management; they want us to get better results through magic.

3. We'd have to apply project management blindly to all projects regardless of size and complexity, and that would be stupid.

2. I know there is a well-developed project management body of knowledge, but I can't find it under this mess on my desk.

1. We figure it's more profitable to have 50% overruns than to spend 10% on project management to fix them.

© Copyright 1996, Jim Chapman. Reprinted by Permission.
(You have permission to reprint the above including the copyright notice
and distribute it without charge.)

Do any of these reasons sound familiar to you?

Most organizations involved with projects find through experience why these reasons just don't stand the test of time. A specific answer to reason #3 is the Scalable Methodology that allows you to tailor project management disciplines to the size, complexity, and risks of your project.

Return to: Project Home