Introduction: An Accidental Project Manager

I never imagined myself growing up to be a project manager. When you think back to friends talking in school about what they dreamed of being when they grew up, do you remember anyone saying, “I want to be a project manager”? Probably not. Pilot, astronaut, doctor, nurse, or teacher, yes. Project manager? No!

When we are young, we don’t understand that to get things done, someone needs to coordinate the effort. Our first experience of a project manager is probably one of our parents. One or both take on the task of juggling the demands of school, work, extracurricular activities, shopping, doctors’ and dentists’ appointments, vacations, and so on. But we don’t really recognize the effort—and skill—that ...

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