Abstract

In this essay, I engage in ontological analysis beginning with questions like “What is a project?”, “What is a process?”, and “What is project failure?” In search of a basic ontology of projects, primarily critiquing and expanding on parts of Frame (2006), I propose a novel theory of projects as sets of propositions, contrast it with a current (albeit informal) theory of projects, and suggest that a project is best understood as a sort of propositional entity, a particular set of statements that stand in logical relation to one another. I then go on to discuss the philosophical distinction between “projects” and “processes” and suggest that the most common reason for project failures (“scope creep”) arises from a specific and persistent logical error relative to the propositions which make up a project. Accounting for the ontology of the basic components of projects, logically speaking, makes those components more amenable to practical analysis, empowering the project manager to successfully navigate the often-difficult landscape of daily decision-making in their particular role. This exercise in not only an example of how philosophy (and metaphysics/ontology in particular) can inform managerial practices but how it might positively advance the intersection of philosophy and project management.