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).

I've done a good deal of reading lately around my usual themes of knowledge management, project management, and network analysis. I've also been reading a good deal about chaos, complexity, and systems, which are other areas of interest. In synthesising all of these disciplines I've come to realise just how useful Dave Snowden's Cynefin Framework actually is, and I have decided to incorporate it into my doctoral thesis. I just wish Dave would publish his long promised and overdue book. So I can gain a greater understanding of his framework I've decided to enrol in his next course in Australia , but I digress.

In an earlier blog I mentioned of Remington and Pollack's book "Tools for Complex Projects ". They classify projects as being structurally complex, technically complex, directionally complex, and/or temporarily complex. Now it seems to me their classification and the Cynefin Framework fit together very nicely, as shown in the illustration.