Strategic Project Management Made Simple, 2nd Edition

1Developing Your Strategic Project Mindset

We cannot solve problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

—Albert Einstein

This chapter launches you on the path to understanding fresh ways to design and deliver projects that produce measurable benefits.

The systems thinking approach to projects that follows has been proven across a wide variety of industries and project types. Applying this process reduces the gap between strategic goals and the project action plans needed to reach those goals.

This chapter offers a preview of the Logical Framework, a solution approach that gives you a competitive advantage in both your professional work and personal life, even in uncertain times. This organizing tool and four critical strategic questions will help you to design effective project strategies that propel your organization and career forward.

And it shares a timeless lesson NASA learned the hard way, along with my personal story.

What NASA Rule #15 Can Teach Us

Early in my career I was fortunate to work with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where I developed an obsession with designing and delivering ambitious projects. But you do not have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate NASA Rule #15, which states:

The seeds of problems are laid down early. Initial planning is the most vital part of a project. The review of most failed projects and project problems indicated that the disasters were well-planned to happen from the start.