The Limitations of Planning: The Importance of Learning

Abstract

The ability to create new knowledge is a key to success. This paper explores two facets of the process of knowledge creation and their impact on project outcomes. The first deals with knowledge that is related to learning about the project. It is associated with the arrangement of the planning process, the characteristics of the project, and the behaviors of the project participants. The second type of knowledge creation deals with the project participants’ learning about each other. It examines the activities and behaviors that take place early in the project and their affect on the activities that take place during the project. The results raise some provocative questions related to the efficacy of planning. The ability to manage change on an ongoing basis rather than the ability to plan appears to be the key to project management success. The results also suggest that the conditions necessary to manage change evolve over the duration of the project. The planning activities that occur early in the project are important in determining the path of evolution.