HBR Guide to Project Management (HBR Guide Series)

Chapter 14

The Adaptive Approach to Project Management

Does your project involve an unfamiliar technology or material? Is it substantially larger than others you’ve overseen? Are the tasks different from those your team has handled in the past?

If you answered yes to one or more of those questions, the traditional approach to project management may not work. That’s because it takes for granted that you can pinpoint what needs to be done, what it will cost, and how much time you’ll need. In situations with higher levels of uncertainty—if you face unanticipated risks, for instance, or if the range of potential outcomes is very wide—decision tools such as return on investment, net present value, and internal rate of return (which assume predictability ...