Megaproject Management: Lessons on Risk and Project Management from the Big Dig

Chapter 11

Building a Sustainable Project through Integration and Change

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

—Niccolo Machiavelli The Prince (1532)

Introduction

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

—Lao Tzu

This chapter introduces the important concept of project integration management and its impact on managing change and sustainability. The importance of integrated processes, especially on long-term projects, has become a key requirement of all project management methodologies. Integrated project management is commonly defined as the combining of all of the major dimensions of project management under one umbrella and involves applying a set of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to a collection of projects.

Integration management introduces the important need for collaboration in building a sustainable project. How megaprojects use integrative tools to enhance the likelihood of project success is an important theme of this chapter. The question of how projects are integrated to foster collaboration and sustainability is a developing field in project management and an area for much-needed research. To build a sustainable project that lasts long beyond project completion requires meeting the following goals: (1) building awareness, (2) ensuring community involvement, (3) developing a diverse base of support, ...