Project

Yes, it seems that way. Looking at the latest public announcements from the PDC it is becoming clearer to me that with Project Server becoming a "work management platform" the traditional function of Project as a critical path method (CPM) scheduling tool has finally become just a feature on a larger platform. I'm wondering how long they will take to start calling it something like "Microsoft Work".

But from what I have seen, the transition is not a particularly graceful one. I think this is because they are working from a situation where the thought is "how do we extend project?" when the real question to be asked is "if we have a new platform, what should project be? Are there ways to schedule besides CPM and variations like CCPM (Critical Chain Project Management). But that is only the tip of the iceberg.

It seems to me that we have not moved far from the traditional deterministic models of tasks and dumb dependencies created so long ago. In most areas, computers have proven to be a major help in helping us to compute things which are impossible to do manually so we have fundamentally changed our processes and even the results of those processes. At one time in structural engineering it was (nearly) impossible to calculate the loads on certain structures unless the loading and the connections were idealized (effectively becoming pins and rollers). For this reason, trusses were quite common as there was a method of resolving the forces and loads across each member and the engineer could have confidence that the design would be sufficient.

With the aid of the computer new analytical methods became practical. Things like finite element analysis now allow us to solve what were previously indeterminate problems. Project on the other hand is little more than a box of blocks (tasks), sticks (dependencies) and nails (constraints). Calculating a critical path schedule of a hundred tasks is a job for a computer, but with a sharp pencil and a few hours time, one could easily do it by hand. Isn't it about time that this primitive method be replaced with a more accurate and more appropriate model? Now is the time to do it.

I have in the past proposed an object oriented schedule model. A model which moves from simple dependencies and elevates them to a level where they have relevant properties, characteristics, methods and events of their own. And a scheduling engine which can resolve all of the properties and connections (no longer simple sticks and nails) and can read all the parameters and come out with a better result than just a simple duration. An engine which can find the areas of stress within the project. An engine which can determine where we have been both too heavy and too light in supplying resources. An updated understanding of what work and what dependencies is necessary to get to this point.

But even if this attempt were to be successful, it is still tainted by close association with project. My early model only concerned the schedule and how to calculate it. The information needed to determine this is a subset of the information needed to manage work. A new larger model is required. A new model of work. A platform which can serve many different methods of scheduling (not just CPM or Agile or CCPM, and is large enough to cover other areas of management. A platform with the relevant information to make managing work a reality. The scheduling tool is not the place to start. It is concerned with a subset of the necessary information. The platform IS the place to start. Eventually functions like scheduling would be features of the platform and just as a word processor allows you to write a sonnet OR a specification, the platform would allow you to create an appropriate schedule model for what you are doing.

I am not suggesting Project Server is that platform or even that it could be in the upcoming release. It is clearly not. At this time I do not have a clear idea of what such a platform might actually be. There are too many things to think about and too many engrained ways of thinking about it to solve it in a single post. But knowing that there is a problem and that there may be a solution is a good start. If you have ideas, feel free to contribute. I'll be posting here occasionally as I think things through.

Many thanks to Gary Chefetz for helping to draw these ideas out.