Another book that completely changed my view on project management:
In Leading Change and the second volume – The Heart of Change, John P. Kotter speaks about the management of change on a business and organizational level, but also practically demontrates that every project, whether small or super-sized is a transformation of an existing system and has to be considered from that perspective.
Kotter makes the case that business companies can’t survive if they don’t continuously change and adapt to the external environment (this is something we already know), but also cannot survive if these changes do not alter profoundly the behaviour of people who work in these organizations. And to change the behaviour of people, a change agent must win first and primarily their hearts. Kotter here suggests eight-steps process through which one should first explain why change, develop a sense of urgency, create a guiding coallition, jointly develop the vision and the mission, provide short-term wins, and communicate, communicate, communicate.