Lost Roots: How Project Management Settled on the Phased Approach (and compromised its ability to lead change in modern enterprises) _______________ Sylvain LENFLE Christoph LOCH 2009/59/TOM Lost Roots : How Project Management Settled on the Phased Approach (and compromised its ability to lead change in modern enterprises) By Sylvain Lenfle * and Christoph Loch ** November 2009 * Professor at Université Cergy Pointoise, Researcher at Centre de Recherche en Gestion, Ecole Polytechnique 32 Boulevard Victor 75739 Paris Cedex 15, France, Ph : +33 (0)1 55 55 84 21 ; Email :
[email protected] ** Professor of Technology and Operations Management at INSEAD, Boulevard de Constance, 77305 Fontainebleau Cedex, France, Ph: +33 1 60 72 43 26; Email:
[email protected] A working paper in the INSEAD Working Paper Series is intended as a means whereby a faculty researcher's thoughts and findings may be communicated to interested readers. The paper should be considered preliminary in nature and may require revision. Printed at INSEAD, Fontai nebleau, France. Kindly do not reproduce or circulate without permission. Abstract The discipline of project management adheres to the dominant model of the project life cycle, or the phased stage-gate approach, of executing projects. This implies a clear definition of mission and system at the outset (to reduce uncertainty), and subsequent execution in phases with decision gates. This approach contrasts with the way the seminal projects were conducted that are credited with establishing the foundation of the discipline in the 1950s. These projects started with missions that were beyond the currently possible, thus any solutions had to emerge over time.