What is Project Management

I have been reading Changing the Way We Manage Change bu Ronald R. Sims, and it is is interesting because the author refers to many things that I have not previously related together. He talks alot of high involvement organizations, which I think we often strive to be in theatre, but don't always accomplish. He also talks about Peter Senge's work on creating learning organizations, again something that are important within theatre's but not always fully successful. But the premise of the book is about change. And its about looking at change differently as changing an organization isn't very easy, yet I think most of us can see areas where the places we work could make improvements.

I thought it was interesting that the author looks at project management skills as a basic responsibility of a change agent. He defines project management in a way that I haven't done before, but in which I like:

Above all else, project management is a way of thinking; a process of keeping desired results in focus. Project management involves planning and identifying objectives and activities that produce a desired result. It also includes organizing people to get the job done and directing them by keeping them focused on achieving the results. Project management requires change agents to measure the project team's progress and give them feedback to keep the project moving ahead, constantly monitoring progress toward, and deviation from, the project's goals. This monitoring activity allows change agents to make decisions that redirect the project and provide corrective action to narrow the discrepancy between stakeholder expectations and actual performance.