Project sociology?

Well, now it is official. That project management is not about engineering science at all but rather about sociology. Well, not only about engineering ;)

This is one of the thesis of Bas de Baar in his excellent linear edition(http://blog.softwareprojects.org/project-shrink-linear-edition-1200.html).

Seriously speaking, during the 2009 IPMA World Conference here in Helsinki there was a lot of debate on the importance of people management project activities. I seem to remember a "guru" stating that the major problems in projects are always in the last instance people management problems.

Leadership, again, is about understanding human behavior. Also the more gruesome aspects of behavior - individual wishes, fears, ambitions, and the organization's internal politics.

I do not want to mystify leadership too muchh. In dealing with people you get quite far with common sense and a healthy sense of justice.

However, normally there is not enough time sacrificed in analysing objectives of project stakeholders objectives and needs. For this reason too, Bas' 80-page book is worth skimming through.