Take Inspiration From The Greatest Project Managers Of All Time

Project management can often be a thankless task; juggling the requirements of team members and stakeholders, obsessively combing over resources and budget, constantly motivating and monitoring others when you may be struggling yourself. And if the project is considered a success it will be viewed as a team effort whereas if it fails the buck stops with the Project Manager (PM).

At times like this it is heartening to take inspiration from the great projects and project managers throughout history. For whilst project management as we know it today is still a discipline in its relative infancy there are numerous examples through the ages of great leadership, meticulous organisation and revolutionary business genius to remind any PM what they are doing it all for.

To identify the first great project manager we must travel all the way back to the 27th century BC and ancient Egypt. Imhotep was charged by his king Zoser with the creation of the first stone structure anywhere in the world, the pyramid at Saqqara. Obviously Imhotep was not confronted with the same leadership challenges as modern day project managers since his 'team members' risked summary execution should they decide to down tools and withdraw their labour, a measure that even the most zealous PM would find legally tricky these days.

Yet this particular project is instructive because it demonstrates the adaptability that Imhotep had to possess considering that Zoser continually changed his mind about what exactly he wanted. This ability to adapt and reshape tasks within a project is something that is imperative in modern project management.

Execution may not have been quite such a pressing concern to the masons and other workers under Sir Christopher Wren's direction but they still would not have had complete freedom of choice as to whether they played ball or not. What Wren's incredible architectural projects of the 17th century do demonstrate however is the combination of technical, practical skill and imaginative flair. Following the Great Fire of London in 1666 St. Paul's Cathedral was in urgent need of rebuilding and whilst Wren had to submit numerous plans to both his stakeholders (the King and the Clergy) the eventual iconic design that he alighted on bore very little resemblance to either.

Whilst it is probably not recommended for any present day PM to disregard the requirements of their stakeholders Wren's creative bravery does highlight the fact that project managers really can make a difference in creative as well as organisational terms.

The most dramatic example of leadership within a project was displayed by Ernest Shackleton on his abortive 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica. When his aptly named ship 'Endurance' was wrecked and crushed by Antarctic ice all the expedition's explorers were stranded for two years without hope of rescue. Shackleton's bravery and selflessness in rowing 800 miles across the South Atlantic to raise the alarm has been cited as a supreme example of project management despite the objectives of the original project failing so spectacularly. Shackleton's credentials are only enhanced by the fact that the morale of his men was still so high upon their discovery.

There are many other pioneering project managers who act as an inspiration to us all. Names like Brunel, Telford, Edison and Frank Crowe who brought the mighty Hoover Dam in two years ahead of schedule. So the next time you feel uninspired, unnecessary or unloved as a PM remember the greats and imagine being mentioned in the same breath.