Is project management a knowledge management activity? To answer this question we must first define “project” and “project management”, and then see how it relates to knowledge management (I’ll use the definition of knowledge management that I posted yesterday ).

Projects are different from business as usual, or operational activities, in that they are unique undertakings, are non-repetitive, and often deliver revolutionary change rather than evolutionary change. The Project Management Institute, which is widely recognised as the world peak body for project management, picks up on the uniqueness and temporal ideas by defining a project as ‘… a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique produce, service or result’ (PMI 2004, p. 368). Similarly, the United Kingdom Office of Government Commence, which is also a world peak body for project management, defines a project as being ‘… a temporary organisation that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to a specified business case' (Office of Government Commerce 2005, p. 6).

A couple of people have asked me why I’ve changed my logo, and in particular why I have chosen an owl. Well it’s not something I have done lightly. I actually think the owl better represents what Knowledge Matters™ - the business and the blog - is all about. Here’s why.

Owls are far-sighted, have good depth-perception, and can turn their head almost 270 degrees. They see in low-light conditions and their feathers are adapted so they can fly almost silently. Knowledge managers need to be almost invisible in the organisation and they need to understand the bigger picture – that is they need depth of understanding of organisational goals and objectives.