5. Lean, heavy, and disruptive projects

‘Lean, heavy, and disruptive projects’ considers how project management was transformed in the 1980s and 1990s to manage innovation in increasingly competitive global markets. The ‘lean’ product development approach was created by Honda and Toyota to develop a wider range of products faster and with fewer errors than their Western car manufacturer counterparts. Over the past two decades, lean development has spread to many industries experiencing rapid product obsolescence and shorter product life cycles. It has also been supported by the rise in digital technology. Different project management styles for different types of projects are discussed, including those for breakthrough innovations, as well as portfolio management and project team structures.

3. From Manhattan to the Moon

The real breakthrough in the management and organization of large, complex projects can be traced back to the Second World War Manhattan Project, which developed the atom bomb, and the early post-war Atlas Project, which produced the intercontinental ballistic missile. ‘From Manhattan to the Moon’ considers these projects and explains how with few precedents to guide them, new structures, processes, and tools had to be created to coordinate, schedule, and integrate the vast networks of people, resources, and organizations involved in these projects. Systems-based project management spread quickly in the 1970s, but while this approach may work well on routine and simple projects, it ignores the need for adaptability in truly novel and complex projects.

1. Introduction

Projects have existed since the earliest agrarian societies. While they may differ in purpose, scale, and scope, each project is established to bring together people with diverse knowledge to complete a temporary assignment, solve a complex problem, or turn a novel idea into reality. The Introduction defines a project as a combination of people and other resources brought together in a temporary organization and process to achieve a specified goal. It considers the role of the project manager, the difference between projects and operations, and a brief history of projects. Traditionally, project performance has been measured by the three constraints of cost, time, and quality, but it is now recognized that project success is multidimensional and varies over time.

6. London’s megaproject ecology

‘London’s megaproject ecology’ describes some of the infrastructure megaprojects recently undertaken in London to illustrate some of the different ways of organizing projects. These include the Jubilee Line extension, High-Speed 1, the new fifth terminal at Heathrow, the Crossrail project, and London 2012 Olympics. It is important to understand the context within which projects are initiated and unfold over time. It raises many questions that cannot be answered by project management’s traditional preoccupation with the ‘lonely project’, such as: How do individuals, teams, and organizations involved in projects learn from the past? How do they develop their knowledge and prepare for the future? Four broad categories of project organizing are identified: single-project organizations, project-based organizations, project networks, and project ecologies.

4. Arup’s adhocracy and projects in theory

‘Arup’s adhocracy and projects in theory’ considers how the spread of adaptive project structures in the 1960s and 1970s encouraged management scholars to develop new ways of thinking about organizations. It begins with Ove Arup’s work on the Sydney Opera House, which established a new model of architect and engineer collaborating in project teams to innovate and solve challenging problems. It then goes on to discuss some of the theoretical insights and perspectives introduced by organizational scholars to help us think about projects as an adaptive structure in a complex, unstable, and rapidly changing environment. It explains organization theory and adhocracy, the difference between stable and flexible project teams, and the contingent dimension of projects.

7. Back to the future

‘Back to the future’ considers whether the new and emerging forms of project organization are equipped to deal with the major challenges individuals, organizations, and societies are facing in the 21st century, such as rapid urbanization, climate change, an ageing population, poverty, terrorism, and the migration and refugee crisis. A flexible and adaptive model of project management supported by digital technologies is required for these dynamic and unpredictable projects that are difficult to define with no clear solutions. How will projects of the future be able to respond to these societal challenges and the relentless pressure to innovate and compete in global markets? What can we learn from the past?

2. America’s venture into the unknown

‘America’s venture into the unknown’ shows how large-scale engineering endeavours were delivered, often very successfully, long before the formal tools, language, and discipline of project management were available. It describes the Erie Canal project, America’s most ambitious and largest engineering project of the early 19th century to create the world’s largest inland waterway connecting New York with Lake Erie. Despite numerous obstacles, the project was completed on time, close to the original cost estimate. The project created knowledge where no such capability existed before and where many unknown conditions would have to be faced and overcome. It became its own school of engineering and a training ground for project managers. It was the key to America’s industrial future.