Collective Wisdom from the Experts 113
flight from point A to point B. But more importantly from the perspective of
IT, the comparative success rate in both medicine and commercial flight is
extremely enviable.
So what practices do medicine and commercial aircraft piloting have that IT
does not? First, there is the near-total authority of the doctor/pilot in mak-
ing decisions. The flip side of that is people in these positions assume total
accountability, both financial and professional. In the case of commercial
pilots, they risk their own lives if they make a mistake.
Second, neither medicine or commercial piloting accepts “average” practices.
PMI’s PMBOK® Guide states that the project management body of knowledge
represents those skills, tools, and techniques that are “generally recognized as
good practice.”
Third, project management as implemented in the fields of medicine and com-
mercial airlines is not a standalone methodology. It exists, and is successful,
largely because project management is fully and inextricably linked with asset
management (departments that are responsible for the allocation and use of
organizational assets to fund projects) and operations management (departments
that generate revenues for an organization by handling its day-to-day work).
Information technology projects cannot be successful in any organization with-
out asset management providing adequate organizational resources, and opera-
tions management, as an internal customer, having realistic expectations.
Software project managers need to be willing to look outside their own IT
world and learn what has been successful in other applications of project man-
agement, especially medicine and commercial airline piloting, which enjoy
significantly higher success rates than do IT projects.