Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons^™

Human Centered Projects And Survivorship Bias The Perceived Success Of Project Outcomes?, Tom Wise

Beyond the Project Horizon: Journal of the Center for Project Management Innovation

Due to the bias that process design demands, we forget the example given by failed projects. The tendency to focus on success was first noted during WWII and named Survivorship Bias. This means that as project professionals, we tend to look at projects that completed successfully to identify desirable patterns for repeatability in process and practice. This leads project professionals to seek out patterns based on successful past practice modeled by successful leaders. Project Managers are trained and heavily focused on Scope, Schedule, and Cost. Perhaps the common constraints and practices of project management may be positively impacted by human …