Originally published April 1, 2006 – Revised and expanded March 23, 2025

Starting Early, Not Driving Recklessly Fast

In my original 2006 article, I shared a perspective that I’ve since refined and expanded: “In product development, the question often comes up: How can we be quicker and faster to market with our products? We should ask instead: How can we be earlier to market with our products than our competitors? We should also ask: Is it more important to be early, or to deliver good quality and innovation?“

While I still believe in the distinction between “quick” and “early,” my thinking has evolved to recognize that success in project management goes far beyond timing considerations. Over nearly two decades in technology leadership, I’ve observed that organizations frequently overemphasize speed and methodology while undervaluing the human elements that ultimately determine success.

The Methodology Trap

Many organizations fall into what I call the “methodology trap” – believing that rigorous adherence to a specific project management framework (whether Waterfall, Agile, or the methodology-du-jour) will guarantee successful outcomes. These methodologies provide valuable structure, but they’re ultimately just frameworks – not silver bullets.

As Richard Rumelt notes in “Good Strategy/Bad Strategy,” we often mistake planning rituals for strategic thinking. The most detailed Gantt chart can’t compensate for unclear objectives or misaligned incentives. When we fetishize methodology, we risk missing the deeper human and strategic elements at play.

In 2006, I listed a hierarchy of factors affecting project success, with “Process & operations” ranking fourth after people, priorities, and planning. Today, I would argue that while process has its place, its primary value is in creating environments where people can do their best work – not in controlling outcomes through rigid adherence to procedures.

People: The True Project Management Operating System

The single most important factor in project success isn’t your choice of methodology or even timing – it’s the quality of your team and how they work together. Drawing from Daniel Kahneman’s work on decision-making, we know that even the most rational planning processes are subject to human biases, emotional responses, and social dynamics.

As I wrote in 2006: “The greatest factor affecting the success of projects is not speed, not technology, not even process or planning. It is people. Invest your time, energy and resources on your people and they will make your projects succeed more than anything else.”

This observation has only become more validated by research in the intervening years. Three human elements consistently determine project outcomes:

1. Clear, Compelling Purpose

People deliver extraordinary results when they understand and believe in the “why” behind their work. As Simon Sinek argues, great leaders start with “why,” not just “what” or “how.” When team members genuinely care about the project’s purpose, they demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of inevitable challenges.

I’ve witnessed projects with modest resources succeed because teams were deeply invested in the mission, while lavishly funded initiatives failed because participants viewed their work as mere transaction. The difference? Leadership that effectively communicated purpose and meaning.

My original comparison still holds true: “In projects, working fast is often a recipe for failure, especially after starting late. The overwhelming majority of projects are not like 100 meter races, where speed results in victory. They are like football games, where factors like teamwork have much greater influence on winning.”

2. Psychological Safety and Trust

Amy Edmondson’s research demonstrates that high-performing teams share one critical attribute: psychological safety – the belief that one won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.

In practice, this means:

• Team members openly acknowledge mistakes without fear
• Junior members feel comfortable challenging senior leaders’ assumptions
• Bad news travels upward without filtration
• Ideas are evaluated on merit rather than source

As Patrick Lencioni argues in “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” trust forms the foundation for healthy conflict, commitment, accountability, and ultimately, results. Without this foundation, even the most sophisticated project management tools yield diminished returns.

This echoes a quote I highlighted in my original article: “People under time pressure don’t work better; they just work faster. In order to work faster, they may have to sacrifice the quality of the product and their own job satisfaction.” — Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, 2nd Edition, Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister

The research is now clear: psychological safety is not just a “nice to have” – it’s a measurable predictor of team performance across industries and contexts.

3. Alignment and Accountability

When teams share clear expectations and willingly hold each other accountable, magic happens. The most effective project leaders establish what Kerry Patterson calls “crucial accountability” – the ability to address performance issues directly while preserving relationships.

This involves:

• Explicit agreements about “what good looks like”
• Regular, honest feedback in all directions
• Recognition that accountability is mutual, not hierarchical
• Consequences that are fair, transparent, and consistently applied

As Jeffrey Pfeffer observes in “Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don’t,” accountability without authority creates dysfunction. Successful projects align responsibility with decision-making power at all levels.

In my 2006 hierarchy, “Priorities” ranked second only to “People & teamwork” in determining project success. Today, I would frame this as alignment – the shared understanding of what matters most and why. When team members make decisions through a consistent lens of priorities, coordination overhead decreases dramatically.

Quality Over Speed: Learning from Market Leaders

While my thinking has evolved on many aspects of project management, some observations from 2006 remain validated by subsequent developments. I noted then that “For the medium and long term good of your organization and in the best interest of your customers, it is more important to deliver a high quality and innovative product than to deliver it quicker.”

The examples I provided still resonate:

• Google arrived years after early search engines like Infoseek and Lycos—yet succeeded through superior quality and innovation.
• Apple’s iPod came years after the first portable digital audio players—but redefined the market.
• Microsoft and Apple rarely rush products to market—yet often dominate their categories.

What these success stories teach us is that “early does not imply fast. These projects often started early and were executed at a comfortable, smooth pace.” The landscape has evolved, but this principle remains constant.

As I cautioned then: “As the saying goes, when you ask for quick and dirty, you get both. The benefits of speed to market are for the short term.”

The Balance of Art and Science

Project management requires both technical skill and interpersonal artistry. The science involves understanding methodologies, tracking metrics, and managing resources efficiently. The art lies in motivating diverse individuals, navigating organizational politics, and maintaining momentum through inevitable challenges.

The most effective project managers I’ve worked with are bilingual in both languages – they understand the technical details while excelling at the human dimensions of leadership. They recognize that while planning tools provide structure, people provide the energy that propels projects forward.

The Power of Appropriate Formality

One evolution in my thinking involves what I now call “appropriate formality” – applying just enough process to provide clarity without creating bureaucratic drag. Projects suffer equally from too little structure (resulting in chaos) and too much (resulting in compliance-focused behavior that stifles innovation).

Finding this balance requires judgment. For example, daily stand-ups might be essential for a software development team but excessive for a strategic planning initiative. Document templates should capture critical information without becoming exercises in form-filling. The appropriate level of formality depends on the team’s experience, the project’s complexity, and the consequences of failure.

The Way Forward: Integrated Project Leadership

The most successful project leaders integrate technical expertise with human insight. They understand that tools and methodologies matter, but people determine outcomes. This integrated approach:

1. Starts with strategy before methodology Define success criteria and constraints before selecting your approach. As Roger Martin advocates in “Playing to Win,” make strategic choices explicit before diving into execution details.
2. Builds psychological capital Invest in developing trust, resilience, and social cohesion within the team. Research by Fred Luthans shows this “psychological capital” delivers measurable performance improvements.
3. Embraces appropriate formality Apply just enough process to provide clarity without creating bureaucratic drag. Focus on outcomes over procedural compliance.
4. Anticipates human dynamics Understand that projects inevitably trigger emotional responses around status, autonomy, and identity. Leaders who acknowledge and address these dynamics proactively minimize resistance and maximize commitment.
5. Creates learning loops Build feedback mechanisms into regular workflow, creating a culture of constant adaptation and improvement rather than post-mortem analysis.

From Hierarchy to Systems Thinking

In 2006, I proposed a linear hierarchy of project success factors:

1. People & teamwork
2. Priorities
3. Planning
4. Process & operations
5. Products & technologies
6. Pace & acceleration

While this framework highlighted the primacy of people, my thinking has evolved toward a more systems-oriented view. These elements don’t operate in isolation but form a complex, interconnected system where each affects the others.

As Donella Meadows notes in “Thinking in Systems,” the most powerful leverage points are not isolated interventions but shifts in the paradigms that govern how we see the system itself. When we view project management through this lens, we recognize that human dynamics aren’t just another factor – they’re the medium through which all other factors operate.

Real-World Application

Throughout my career at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other organizations, I’ve observed that human factors consistently predict project outcomes more accurately than any other variable. The most innovative digital transformations succeeded not because of superior methodologies, but because leaders created environments where teams could do their best work.

In one case study from my early career, I compared two similar technology implementations with dramatically different outcomes. Project A, despite meticulous planning and substantial resources, failed to deliver expected benefits. Project B, with a smaller budget but stronger team dynamics, exceeded expectations. The difference wasn’t methodology – both used similar approaches. The difference was leadership that prioritized purpose, psychological safety, and mutual accountability.

Conclusion: The Integrated Approach

The best project managers are systems thinkers who understand that methodology matters, but people determine outcomes. They develop technical mastery while cultivating the emotional intelligence to navigate human complexity.

As I wrote in 2006: “Whether you are a leader, manager or information worker, I recommend learning more about the people factor and practicing better people related activities at work.” This advice has only become more critical as our technological capabilities have expanded. The most sophisticated tools and methodologies cannot compensate for dysfunction in human systems.

By addressing the human elements of project management with the same rigor we apply to technical aspects, we unlock performance that no methodology alone can deliver. The path to extraordinary results lies not in working faster, but in creating environments where talented people collaborate effectively toward meaningful goals.

What project management wisdom have you discovered beyond methodologies and tools? I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments below.

Rajiv Pant is President at  Flatiron Software  and  Snapshot AI , where he leads organizational growth and AI innovation while serving as a trusted advisor to enterprise clients on their AI transformation journeys. He has led digital transformation as CTO and chief product officer at organizations including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Condé Nast, Reddit, and Hearst Magazines. He writes about artificial intelligence, leadership, and the intersection of technology and humanity. Read more at  rajiv.com .