By Stewart Clegg, Torgeir Skyttermoen, and Anne Live Vaagaasar – the authors of Project Management – Creating Sustainable Value.
This is the first article of a series of 4:
This is the fourth of an article series of 4 articles (each can be read individually):
1: Beyond the Basics: What Project Management Needs Today 1/4
2: Beyond Waste: What Project Management can do Today (2/4)
3: Beyond Rock Stars: Trust and Psychological Safety in Project Management 3/4
4: Beyond Control: How Project Leadership Maturity Creates Meaningful Impact 4/4
A project can succeed on paper, be delivered on time, within budget, and to specification, yet still fail to make a meaningful difference. Many project teams celebrate their handover only to realize later that the change has not endured, the outcomes were shallow, or the purpose was unclear.
Considering the urgency of climate change, digital transformation, and growing expectations for legitimacy and transparency, among many other complex issues, simply delivering outputs is no longer enough. We need projects that matter.
Time to Rethink Projects
It is worth pausing to reflect on your latest project. Was it successful? Traditional indicators may suggest so. Milestones were completed, deliverables handed over, and stakeholders updated. But did the project create sustainable value? Did it achieve something that endures or aligns with the deeper goals of the organization or society?
These are the kind of questions project professionals increasingly face. The familiar techniques of classical project management, while effective for managing scope, time, and cost, are not always adequate when the landscape is complex and constantly shifting. Many projects unfold in environments where stakeholder groups are diverse and vocal, where goals evolve, and where the impact of work stretches far beyond the delivery phase.
In such settings, success is not simply a matter of sticking to the plan. Many organizations pursue bold strategies, but when it comes to project execution, they continue to rely on outdated tools and narrow success metrics. This disconnect, between strategic ambition and operational reality, reflects a broader issue: a lack of project maturity. Despite investment in digital toolkits and portfolio systems, many organizations fall short in cultivating the reflective capacity, ethical sensitivity, and systems-thinking that complex projects require.
The shift that is needed goes beyond acquiring new tools or certifications. It begins with a more human-centered and value-conscious approach to how we define, lead, and evaluate projects.
Why a New Perspective is Needed
For decades, project management has emphasized structure, control, and predictability. The classic approach broke complexity into defined tasks, clarified scope, and worked to eliminate deviation. This logic still has merit, especially in well-understood, stable contexts. But many modern projects are no longer grounded in such predictability.
A public sector innovation initiative, for example, cannot be judged solely by whether it meets a deadline. Questions about trust, ethics, user inclusion, and long-term viability also matter. A corporate sustainability program is not just about producing a report but about whether it shifts behaviors inside the organization. Even in areas like infrastructure and IT, the ability to adapt, respond to evolving user needs, and align with broader goals increasingly determines long-term value.
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Traditional project management assumes clarity of purpose, stable stakeholder environments, and fixed success criteria. These assumptions no longer hold. Projects today often begin in ambiguity, evolve through dialogue, and succeed when they are experienced as valuable in practice—not just when they meet a set of predefined metrics.
Dimensions of project success (Figure 2.5 Multi-dimensional project success criteria from a value creation perspective in Project Management: Creating Sustainable Value)
This calls for a fundamental shift in the kinds of questions project managers ask. Rather than asking how to deliver, they need to ask what kind of value the project is meant to create, and for whom. Rather than assuming that alignment follows from planning, they need to understand that alignment emerges through ongoing learning, trust-building, and sensemaking.
Modern projects are deeply embedded in social, ecological, and political systems. They are not separate from the world, but part of how it changes. Likewise, those leading projects often seek not just technical success but meaning and relevance in their work. They want to know that their effort matters.
The foundational tools of project management—planning, governance, and risk management—are not discarded in this approach. Rather, they are reframed and integrated within a broader concern for purpose, legitimacy, and systems thinking. Project work becomes not just a process of delivery, but a practice of responsibility and reflection.
What Makes This Perspective Different
In writing about sustainable project value, we began with a shared sense that much of the existing literature and teaching in project management was no longer sufficient. While there is no shortage of frameworks and certifications, many still treat projects as isolated from the complex dynamics of real organizations and people’s everyday challenges.
We did not want to discard the fundamentals, which remain useful. But we did want to expand the frame. The goal was to speak not only to students preparing for their first project roles but also to professionals with years of experience who find that established models no longer fully capture the realities they face.
Rather than treating projects as purely technical exercises, we present them as spaces where political, ethical, and human dimensions intersect. Projects involve choices, and choices have consequences. Value is not simply delivered—it is constructed and often contested.
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This perspective allows us to bring language to aspects of project work that matter greatly but are often overlooked. Concepts like trust, well-being, purpose, and legitimacy are not add-ons. They are part of how projects succeed or fail in the real world.
At the same time, we retain a grounding in practical guidance. Topics such as structuring project phases, managing uncertainty, and working across boundaries are approached in a way that respects the complexity of modern project environments.
Why This Matters in Practice
Although the original intent may have been to write for students, we always knew that the ideas needed to speak to those already working with projects. Experienced professionals often voice a similar frustration: despite years of experience and multiple certifications, they still find projects challenging in ways the models do not explain.
It is not more tools that are missing. It is the framing of the questions.
- Whose voices are shaping this project, and whose are missing?
- Whose voices are shaping the work?
- How will this change persist once the project closes?
Good project professionals are often those most attuned to the complexities that do not show up on official plans. They sense resistance, disengagement, or misalignment before others do. They feel when something is off, even if the metrics say otherwise.
For these professionals, a more reflective and value-conscious approach offers language and legitimacy to the realities they experience. It validates their intuitions, not as soft skills, but as essential capacities for leading meaningful projects.
We have seen how difficult it can be to embed sustainability in real project portfolios, or to align agile practices with institutional structures. We have observed how teams under pressure are often forced to move faster, even when the environment demands more listening, learning, and integration. These are not exceptional cases. They are the new normal.
This is why we believe a shift is necessary. It is not about rejecting the past. It is about enriching the practice of project management to meet the present.
Why Change is Hard and Necessary
Even when we recognize the need for new approaches, making that change is rarely simple. Project management is sustained by systems and habits that prioritize efficiency, control, and deliverables. Templates, performance frameworks, and reporting mechanisms often reinforce an outdated view of success.
Letting go of familiar benchmarks like fixed timelines or rigid scopes can feel risky. But clinging to them too tightly can cause us to miss what really matters.
Our own teaching and consulting work consistently highlights the ways inherited assumptions can block awareness. Teams may execute flawlessly, yet overlook signs of disengagement, resistance, or misalignment. The outputs may be delivered, but the intended outcomes never take root.
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Moving toward a more value-driven and human-centered practice involves discomfort. It requires deeper listening, more patience, and an openness to uncertainty. It also requires recognizing that not all organizations are ready to support this way of working. But that does not mean practitioners must wait. Change often begins in small spaces: teams that ask better questions, leaders who create time for reflection, and professionals who act with integrity even when the system does not demand it.
The reward is a form of project work that feels more meaningful and responsive. It is not just about ticking boxes. It is about making a difference in complex and changing contexts.
Looking Ahead: Toward a More Sustainable Project Management Practice
If there is one message we want to leave behind, it is that projects are not just temporary task structures. They are opportunities to shape value, meaning, and connection. They involve people, relationships, and judgments that extend well beyond timelines and specifications.
A more sustainable approach to project management combines practical skill with broader reflection. It respects the technical demands of planning and delivery while inviting deeper engagement with purpose, legitimacy, and human impact. Success is no longer defined only at handover. It is found in what endures, in what grows, and in how people are changed through their work.
This way of thinking is not reserved for advanced practitioners or special cases. It is relevant for anyone who believes that projects should matter—not only because they meet a need, but because they reflect a commitment to doing things well and wisely.
If that is your view, this conversation is for you.
