At the start of January, PMI published their “Maximizing Project Success” report calling for a shift in focus from “project management success” to “project success”.
It is encouraging to see the project success movement growing, and especially when a key organisation and heavy player like PMI decides to encourage project success over project management success after publishing the results of their study (see link below).
The report is a must-read for all working with projects in any shape or form.
This is immensely important and huge thanks to Pierre Le Manh and the PMI team for a great report and for encouraging this shift in focus.
The project success movement, very much in the way that Pierre Le Manh describes it in the presentation video (see link below), has long been characterized by consisting of a number of smaller organisations and professionals scattered around the world working hard to get the message through.
At ValuePoint we collaborate in this field with people in the UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Pakistan, Singapore, USA, Ghana and of course Australia, where – in our view – the movement was started by Jed Simms and Alexandra Chapman through Totally Optimized Projects (TOP) in the 1990’s.
The conclusions described in the PMI report are very much in line with the solutions proposed by Simms and Chapman based on their studies from the late 1980’s into the 2000’s.
Totally Optimized Projects have long championed the idea that true project success is measured not just by excellence in project management or the delivery of the planned project outputs, but by the delivery of the desired business outcomes – the end-state where everything works “just right” – that deliver tangible, measurable business value, align with strategic objectives and aims at bringing transformational change.
It’s therefore exciting to see PMI call for a shift in focus beyond successful project management execution and the traditional metrics of time, cost, and scope.
Here’s what stands out to us:
- Focus on Value:
PMI’s acknowledgment that success must be “worth the effort and expense” resonates deeply.
Indeed, the whole purpose of commissioning projects is to deliver business value to the organisations or societies in which they are executed, and in this movement, we consider this as a project’s ability to deliver value that is both measurable and transformational. Value needs to be measurable for it to be manageable – just as time, cost and scope, and you need to strive for transformational change as that is the kind that has the greatest impact and delivers lasting benefits.
- Expanded Accountability:
We agree wholeheartedly that project professionals must step into roles as value-driven leaders, owning not only execution but also the entire breadth of outcome delivery.
- Continuous Reassessment:
The call to “pivot and optimize” as stakeholder needs evolve is key to ensuring projects deliver lasting benefits in today’s dynamic environment and to thereby ensure the delivery of the maximum amount of tangible business value.
As we welcome PMI to this shared vision, we hope for and believe it will increase the momentum to collectively raise the bar for project management and execution worldwide and for an increased influence of projects to redefine their impact—for organisations and society.
Let’s keep this momentum going!
The “Maximizing Project Success” report is available on the PMI website at
https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/project-success?utm_campaign_channel=b2c&utm_custom_field_five=none&utm_custom_field_four=ghq&utm_custom_field_one=Project+Management+Institute&utm_custom_field_three=none&utm_custom_field_two=20241218&utm_end_date=12312025&utm_funnel_stage=awareness&utm_job_number=229&utm_marketing_channel=owned_media&utm_marketing_subchannel=social&utm_region_name=na_sa_eu_me_la_in_ch_ap&utm_start_date=03142023&utm_source=linkedin
Pierre Le Manh’s presentation of the report is available at
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pierre-le-manh-3a4158_projectsuccess-pmi-leadership-activity-7272069190012833792-xC0Z?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
For more information about Totally Optimized Projects, their studies and solutions, simply visit their website at https://www.totallyoptimizedprojects.com
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