Top Ten Qualities of Project Manager Heroes: An Interview with David B. Perini

Abstract

David B. Perini is commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a position he assumed in May 2000. DCAM is the agency that is responsible for major public building construction and real estate services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The agency’s responsibilities include planning, design, construction, capital budgeting, and real property acquisition, disposition, and leasing for the commonwealth’s facilities—its colleges and universities, hospitals, courthouses, prisons, state police facilities, recreation centers, and other specialized facilities. The agency has also recently added the Office of Facilities Maintenance, which is charged with assisting state agencies by promoting sound building maintenance practices. Prior to becoming the commissioner of DCAM, David Perini was the CEO of Perini Corporation from 1972 to 1999. This article is based on a presentation that Commissioner Perini made, addressed primarily to students at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, at a meeting of the New England Chapter of Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) on May 31, 2006. Additional thoughts were elicited and offered by Commissioner Perini at a follow-up interview, where the story he told turned out to be a classic success story of American business. Following the maxim of one of the top ten qualities of project manager heroes, “Above all, lead by example,” this article also represents an example of intergenerational leadership by the Perini family.