Diving Into Issues

There is a wide debate in project management and other management

disciplines that is phrased in the context of asking if it is absolutely

necessary for project managers to be technically knowledgeable on the

subject area or topic that they are managing.

As a project manager I can argue that this is not required – but as a

technical person I can say that it makes all the difference.

This is indicative of a problem that we face in society in that

people do not focus on getting into an issue, understanding the

implications of what is being said and in general do not think deeply

about the implication of a decision. The implication is then that bad

decisions get made and that we failed to recommend the correct course of

action. Project managers make bad choices when they do not understand

the technicalities of both technology and other technical aspects

including legal and contractual implications.

For this reason, understanding is critical. It is also critical that

there is a combination between actually learning to understand what you

are doing vs only managing it.

Management arose out of the need for more people to do the same job.

Over time, as groups of people became larger someone was asked to

oversee the task or production process. The argument has been that the

skills required to oversee the production process can be de-linked from

understanding the actual production process. Project managers arose out

of a need to have manage complex delivery process.

I wish to disagree with de-linking management from understanding

production – yes the metrics is different, but the understanding is

nonetheless required. The actual production process still need to be

understood by the manager. It is fine to push for outcomes only – but

poor decisions are premised by not understanding and managing the

process.