Forum on Project Leadership: Speakers

Dr. Alex Laufer
Director, Center for Project Leadership at Columbia University

Topic: “Projects Must Be Led, Not Just Managed: Why and How?”

Abstract: In the past, the project method was primarily confined to a few industries. In recent years, this method has evolved into the central task of all middle managers, even to the point that it has become the keystone of the modern organization. Paradoxically, the sharp increase in the popularity of the project method has been accompanied by an increasing dissatisfaction with project results. Research covering a wide variety of projects consistently demonstrates unsatisfactory project performance. These studies also stress that the prevailing theories of project management in most organizations are often inadequate insofar as they largely ignore the dynamic environment surrounding current projects. Adhering to these theories leads to projects that are over-managed and under-led and have poor outcomes. In my research of 150 successful project managers from such organizations as Fluor, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Procter & Gamble, and the US Air Force, I found that delivering successful results to the customer depends on the project manager’s ability to lead. However, exercising project leadership does not mean abandoning the need for project management. It means that there a need for a change in the kind of management practiced. The presentation will focus on this managerial approach as practiced by successful project managers.

Bio: Dr. Laufer is a chaired professor of civil engineering at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, where he also served as the dean of the faculty. Currently, he serves as the director of the Center for Project Leadership at Columbia University and as a member of the editorial review board of the Project Management Journal. From 2001 to 2005 he served as the editor-in-chief of the NASA Academy of Program and Project Leadership Magazine, ASK, Academy Sharing Knowledge. Dr. Laufer has authored or co-authored the following four books: Simultaneous Management: Managing Projects in a Dynamic Environment, 1997; Project Management Success Stories: Lessons of Project Leaders, 2000; Shared Voyage: Learning and Unlearning from Remarkable Projects, 2005; Breaking the Code of Project Management, 2009.