Hierarchy and Project Success

As modern management progressed, it progressed as a command-and-control structure. Probably inherited from the military. The boss said what to do and when to do it and even how to do it. The worker complied with what the boss said - or likely had to find another job. That is still likely the best idea for the military.

Project work has often been the same. Even now, when we claim that work is "more democratic", there is still much of the old structure in place. "I am the Project Manager - you will do as I say!"

Forget the question of democratic, if that's even the right word. If we use the command-and-control structure, we believe that we will produce the desired outcome by our control. We believe that because we are in charge, things will go well on our Projects.

Until it gets too large to control (which doesn't have to be very large). Until we have independent thinkers on our teams. Until we lose our grip for whatever reason.

For Project work, someone has to set the agenda, define the desired outcome, determine the delivery schedule, and establish a budget. When it gets further down into the details, we need to let the team members have the ability to get the work done. They typically will know how best to accomplish what we've laid out for them. They can decide how to do the work in order to get it done on time. Our micro-management of the details only gets in the way of Project success.