Unknown
unknowns are in the very center of Project Management.
Project management is the process of
making something new. When you do that, you may be just assembling familiar
pieces in familiar ways. That’s the simplest activity on the arc that graduates
through levels of familiarity (process management, really) into areas of
creativity at increasing levels of risk.
Risk is the possibility that what you
attempt won’t work, and failure can sometimes carry a high price. So project
work often is launched and conducted tentatively. The sponsoring organization
bases its approach on wishing and hoping more than on managing, particularly
managing risk.
Timidity puts real project success out of
reach, and many organizations assume that’s the way it has to be.
Successful organizations, on the other
hand, accept a certain level of failure. They learn from their failures, and
apply the learning to a broad pattern of success. Their failure is a
purposeful, controlled component of their success. They know they can’t grow
without it.
