Fundamentals of Project Management, Third Edition

The Absolute Imperative of Planning

If you consider the major function of managing, it is to ensure that desired organization objectives are met. This is accomplished by exercising control over scarce resources. However, the word control has two connotations, and we must be careful which one we intend.

One meaning of the word is power and domination. In management, this is sometimes called the command-and-control approach, which in its worst form degenerates into the use of fear and intimidation to get things done. This method works when people have no other desirable options for employment or are not free to leave (as in the military or a prison). However, in a robust economy, very few will tolerate such management for long.

Control is exercised ...