Transforming Project Management While Respecting Our Diversity - Part 1

In this powerful first installment of a two-part series, host Mounir Ajam unpacks the deep-rooted challenges that continue to plague the project management profession—even after decades of certifications, guides, and frameworks.

Drawing from his paper, "Transforming Project Management While Respecting Our Diversity," Mounir takes a strategic lens to explore:

• Why project failure rates remain high across industries
• The persistent confusion between methods, tools, and delivery approaches like Agile or Hybrid
• The lack of a unified definition of success in project work
• And the urgent need for integrated, value-driven systems that move beyond task management

He also challenges the industry's current understanding of project phases, organizational maturity, and the myth of “project management software,” setting the stage for a bold transformation in how we define, manage, and deliver successful outcomes.

👉 Tune in to lay the foundation for part two, where Mounir introduces the Uruk Value Delivery Model and the blueprint for designing real, adaptable project management methods that fit your organizational context.

📍 Learn more at www.urukpm.com

Explore more project management insights at www.urukpm.com

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the 4PM podcast, where ideas take shape
and strategies find purpose.
I am Mounir Ajam, founder andCEO of Uruk Project Management,
and I have a deep-seated passionfor project management and
community development, growingon decades of global experience

(00:24):
across diverse industries androles.
I am here to guide you throughthe transformative power of the
4PMs project program, productand portfolio management, and
our focus on business integratedproject management.
Let's explore how integrationunlocks unparalleled value for
you and your organization.
Welcome back to the 4PM Podcast.

(00:55):
I am Munir Ajam, your host.
I appreciate you joining me aswe explore the evolving
discipline of project managementfrom a strategic and
organizational transformationperspective.
In today's episode, the firstin a two-part series, we're
diving into the core of what haslong challenged our profession
Persistent failure rates,misapplied methodologies and an

(01:19):
overall lack of unifiedunderstanding about what project
management truly is or shouldbe.
We will cover key insights frommy paper titled Transforming
Project Management WhileRespecting Our Diversity.
This episode will address thefoundational challenges,
including the fragmentedunderstanding of project success

(01:39):
, confusion over terminologylike agile and hybrid, and the
lack of integrated system fortrue value delivery.
In the next episode, we'llexplore the Uruk value delivery
model and outline a frameworkfor tailored, results-oriented
project execution.
Let's begin, let's start, withcontext.

(02:07):
Project management associationshave been around since the
1950s.
For decades we've had variousguides, training programs and
certifications.
Yet despite all thisinfrastructure, the success rate
of projects globally remainsstagnant.
Even today, we struggle withbasic alignment.

(02:28):
There is no commonly agreeddefinition of project success,
nor a clear understanding ofwhat constitutes a true project
management method.
Meanwhile, debates over agile,waterfall and hybrid continue.
But here's the irony None ofthese are actual project
management methods.
They are development approaches, often mistaken for full

(02:53):
frameworks.
Organizations frequently investin PMOs only to dismantle them
later due to poor performance ora lack of clear mandate.
It's time to criticallyevaluate our current practices.
This paper offers a structuredpath forward, grounded in

(03:13):
practice and designed fortransformation.
Let's take a moment to considerthe tools we label as project
management software.
We label as project managementsoftware.
Most are task management tools,perhaps with added features for
timesheets, communication orbasic collaboration.
Others may be moresophisticated handling

(03:34):
scheduling or risk, but they arestill fragmented tools.
Similarly, many of the formalguides in our field, like the
PMBOK guide, focus primarily ontechnical project management.
This often limits the projectmanager's role to the period
after the business case iscompleted and ends with the

(03:57):
operational handover.
It leaves out discovery,stakeholder alignment and
benefit realization.
This narrow view reinforces thestructural silos in
organizations.
The project is passed from onefunctional area to another with
no cohesive ownership of thefull value stream.

(04:19):
Despite our certification,bodies of knowledge and decades
of theory, projects continue tofail at an alarming rate.
The root causes, in our view,are the absence of a holistic,
organizational-level projectmanagement system, a failure to
focus on delivering businessvalue through a structured

(04:40):
methodological process, valuethrough a structured
methodological process.
This paper advocates a shiftfrom technical execution to a
value delivery mindset.
That means designing projectsystems that take a product or

(05:00):
solution from concept through toimplementation and measurable
success.
To do this, we need anorganizational project
management OPM system built onthree core pillars People,
competence, processes, methods,tools, technology.
At Uruk Project Management,we've spent years refining this

(05:22):
approach and developing the Urukplatform, a digital solution
that helps organizationsimplement integrated portfolio
and value delivery systems.
But before jumping into modelsand tools, we must acknowledge
the diversity in our field.
Project management is essential,but often undervalued or
misunderstood, especially byexecutives.

(05:44):
Many organizations lack thefoundational system and fail to
adopt meaningful digitaltransformation practices.
There are also semantic andcontextual issues.
Consider this.
Most guides provide genericproject definition, but their
application varies significantlyby industry, organization size

(06:08):
and project complexity.
This is why practitioners oftenrespond with it depends.
That's not a sign of vagueness.
It's a reflection of thereal-world variation in how
project must be led.
So when we define what aproject is or what project
management entails, we must askare we considering whether the

(06:32):
organization is a project owneror service provider?
Are we accounting for theproject's complexity and scale?
Do we recognize that differentprojects require different
levels of process and rigor?
Do we understand that thedevelopment approach agile,
traditional or blended is notthe same as the management

(06:56):
method?
More importantly, do we evenhave a shared understanding of
what a project management methodincludes?
Often, what we call methods areactually just tools or
techniques, like the criticalpath method or earned value.
Useful, yes, but not sufficientto structure an entire delivery

(07:19):
lifecycle.
Let's talk about the practicalgaps we see across industries
First.
Not all organizations operatethe same.
Some demonstrate maturity anduse project management as a
strategic differentiator, butmany others are still navigating

(07:42):
fundamental capability gaps.
Some of the most commonobservations include project
practitioners are unable totranslate training into results.
Organization over, relying onaccidental project managers.
A disconnect between businessstrategy and delivery functions.

(08:02):
Lack of meaningful successmetrics.
Without well-defined system,many project managers revert to
task-level oversight.
That might work for smallerefforts, but it's a significant
liability for large-scale ortransformational initiatives.
Most of the time, what we seepracticed is technical project

(08:24):
management delivery of an output, not ownership of outcomes.
And this brings us to anotherpersistent confusion mistaking
process group for project phases.
The process groups initiating,planning, executing, monitoring
and closing occur within everyphase or stage.

(08:46):
They're not sequentiallifecycle steps.
Yet many organizations labeltheir phases this way and even
consultants reinforce thismisconception.
This misapplication underminesproject control and creates
reporting and governance chaos.
We also need to clarifyterminology around agile.

(09:07):
Agility is a mindset.
It's about adaptability andresponsiveness.
Agile originally was a set ofprinciples for software
development.
It is not a project managementmethod.
Many in the industry havestretched agile to fit their
narrative, sometimes ignoringits limitations, especially when

(09:31):
applied outside tech context.
Finally, let's address the bigquestion of success and failure.
Despite years of advancement,we still don't have a shared
definition of what makes aproject successful.
Studies differ wildly.
One report claims only 0.5% ofcapital projects succeed,

(09:52):
another says 60%.
Without clear agreed-uponcriteria.
Such data is anecdotal at bestand we close this section with a
core truth.
Such data is anecdotal at best,and we close this section with
a core truth.
Most of the so-called methods inuse today are not methods at
all Waterfall, agile, hybrid.
These are delivery strategiesor approaches.

(10:15):
They do not constitute fullproject management methods.
So what is a method?
What does it include, and howdo we build one that can flex to
our project's context?
We'll answer that in the nextepisode.
That brings us to the end ofpart one of our two-part series

(10:42):
on transforming projectmanagement while respecting our
diversity.
Today we laid the groundwork.
We explored the systemic gapsthat continue to challenge our
profession, unpack the confusionaround tools versus methods and
emphasize the critical need toanchor project management within

(11:03):
a value-driven organizationalcontext.
In the next episode, we'll walkthrough the components of a
true project management method,introduce the ROOC model and
discuss how organizations canbuild Adaptive Systems for
Sustainable Success.
To learn more, please visitwwwrookpmcom.

(11:27):
You'll find publications, toolsand information on the Rook
platform and how it supportstransformation at scale.
Until next time, I'm MounirAjam.
Keep your vision bold, yoursystems strong and your results
visible.