Superstition in project management
Doing some research about Yesterday's Weather I came across this blog post that made my day. It's from 2005 and quite intriguing:
Jim Highsmith in Yesterday's Weather:
Why do we seek planning forecasts in the wake of continued failures and uncertainty? It is the authors' contention "that management's enchantment with the magical rites of long-range planning, forecasting, and several other future-oriented techniques is a manifestation of anxiety-relieving superstitious behavior, and that forecasting and planning have the same function that magical rites have." In other words, our desire to predict the unpredictable is based on superstition. And yet, that superstitious behavior can have both negative and positive benefits. As John Kenneth Galbraith said, "In an uncertain subject matter such as economics or psychiatry, there is something wonderfully compelling about those who are sure" (this quote is also from the same book). As we all know, it's okay to be sure, and wrong, but it's not okay to be uncertain.
Posted by Stephan Schwab on March 22, 2008 2:01:31 PM EST
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