![\"j0402316.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/svapm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/11\/j0402316.thumbnail.jpg\")
In his 2004 book, eXtreme Project Management, Doug DeCarlo\u00a0declares that “the world of project management has changed radically, totally and irreversibly”. DeCarlo contends that traditional project management as\u00a0outlined by the Project Management Institute’s Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge\u00a0belongs to the past\u00a0and is not effective or appropriate\u00a0for most of today’s\u00a0highly chaotic\u00a0and\u00a0high speed\u00a0projects.<\/p>\n
\nDeCarlo\u00a0maintains that many of today’s projects\u00a0feature\u00a0highly changeable requirements, new technology, high speed and global competition. He\u00a0defines these projects\u00a0as “eXtreme projects” and they require viewing the world with a new reality he calls the quantum mindset. The quantum\u00a0mindset is based on the view that change is\u00a0unavoidable, necessary\u00a0and unpredictable as opposed to the traditional\u00a0mindset of viewing reality as stable, predictable and knowable. The allegation is that traditional project management is too slow, inflexible and cumbersome to deal with rapidly changing requirements and high speed\u00a0innovative development cycles. Traditionalists fear and resist change according to DeCarlo.<\/p>\n
My feeling is that the traditional processes are subject to how you choose or not choose to use them. I advise project management students to “never let the tail wag the dog”. That is, “you use the processes, don’t ever let the processes use you”\u00a0The traditional project processes are based upon very powerful concepts and lessons learned by conducting thousands of project over many decades. Do they exactly conform to your current project needs?\u00a0 Probably not. So we should adapt the project to fit the traditional PMBOK\u00ae<\/sup> processes. RIGHT?\u00a0\u00a0WRONG!! Let’s use our common sense here. Of course you should adapt the processes to your project not the other way around. What do you do if you have a high speed complex software development project where the requirements are in limbo and the customer doesn’t know what she wants but will know it when she sees it? \u00a0Do you put together a 6 level Work Breakdown Structure and detailed Gantt schedule\u00a0which define all the deliverables and work packages for the entire project? If you answer yes to this question, you are what DeCarlo calls a Newtonian\u00a0with a well defined and stable world view.<\/p>\n As a Newtonian you should be managing projects which have crystal clear requirements, well defined technology\u00a0where the customer doesn’t want you to bother her until you are finished.\u00a0\u00a0In reality, an extreme project\u00a0may only require a 1-2 level WBS for phase one of a possible 4 or 5 phases or maybe you don’t use a WBS at all. My point is that project managers must know when and how to use the right processes and tools. Maybe you have to throw them all out and\u00a0invent your own set of processes and tools. However, even DeCarlo doesn’t advocate starting from scratch. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In his 2004 book, eXtreme Project Management, Doug DeCarlo\u00a0declares that “the world of project management has changed radically, totally and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[33,55,56,38,57],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership","tag-common-sense","tag-extreme-project-management","tag-newtonian","tag-project-management","tag-traditional-project-managment"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13658,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions\/13658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nHow do you determine what processes and tools to use, modify or\u00a0throw out of your extreme project or, any project, for that matter?
\nFirst point, you must have a working knowledge of the traditional processes and tools to make an intelligent decision. That means you would do well to be familiar with the Guide to the PMBOK or some other standard and maybe, heaven forbid, become a certified Project Management Professional or even earn a project management certificate.\u00a0Why would you not try to benefit from the lessons learnt from the blood, sweat, tears and lives of those that have accomplished so much before us? Those ignorant of history are likely doomed to re-live it: Sir Winston Churchill.
\nSecond point, if you really take a close look at the so called modern methods of running projects, you will find the traditional methods are at their core more often than not. All projects, traditional and extreme,\u00a0must follow the laws of nature and thus have the triple constraints, i.e. show me a project you can\u00a0accomplish without time, money or resources. This tells me that extreme project management as defined by DeCarlo is really an attitude shift\u00a0and possibly an updated operating model of the\u00a0current reality which affects the way you use processes and tools to produce value. This doesn’t mean to discard traditional processes but to build on them or reconstruct them to\u00a0accomplish your objectives.<\/p>\n
\nThird and last point, the really hard part of determining how to\u00a0conduct your project is really based upon your knowledge\u00a0and experience. Knowledge of what has worked before, both for traditional and non-traditional projects, and the common sense and experience\u00a0to guide you in making decisions based upon what you are trying to accomplish, for whom, when, and what will it take?
\nEven as he chides the three-toed Newtonian sloth, DeCarlo understands the peaceful coexistence that must exist between the Newtonian and the quantum mindsets. After all they are just different forms of the same energy.
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n