Low Intensity Project Management, Beware of the Trojan Horse
May 11th, 2003 by HalLow Intensity Project Management by Andrew Weiss, PhD, PMP, appearing April 30, in Gantthead.
The article is both seductive and frightening. Weiss states, …not all project management is highly structured and driven by formal tools. Towards the end of the article he characterizes low intensity projects:
LIPM is far more of an emergent activity than standard project management (in other words, project management in a given organization would arise more from situational variables than from adherence to standard practices). LIPM thus tends to be more experimental than prescriptive.
Are you beginning to see the seductiveness? (for me anyway)
It's all the stuff in between that's scary. Weiss offers one rationalization after another describing why some organizations or situations may not be ready for the formal approaches that they really need. (my paraphrase) He sees taking a LIPM approach as a way of introducing more formal approaches to organizations. An example:
Work breakdown structures. In the LIPM environment, one of the most challenging tasks is simply keeping track of what has and has not been done. Personnel are probably not used to regularly reporting on their progress or looking at their activities in a structured, hierarchical manner. However, once they are shown how to do so, the WBS becomes a powerful tool for project control.
See what I mean? In short, LIPM is a Trojan horse for introducing formalized methodology and all the trappings.
Still looking for just what's needed and no more? Consider designing a set of practices based on Fernando Flores description of projects. You're sure to do better than LIPM.
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