PMI explains how good project management means knowing when to let go

By Mark A Langley, President and CEO, Project Management Institute

Good project management is about more than just seeing things through to the end. Sometimes, a good leader needs to know when to save resources by moving on

When I hear CEOs talk about ‘successful projects’, I am always curious as to how they define success – and failure. Too often, a project is considered successful merely if it’s completed – regardless of the value it delivers to the organisation. Conversely, projects that don’t get completed are deemed failures. No distinction is made between those projects that fail due to poor management or lack of resources and those that are stopped or postponed because of shifts in strategy and organisational priorities, changed market conditions, or the realisation that there won’t be sufficient return on investment.