Project management is about influencing the future

27 Jan 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief segment, the speaker cites a memorable quote from the late Dr. Martin Barnes—"project management is about influencing the future, everything else is admin"—which shaped his early career perspective. He contrasts two approaches: merely recording problems as they arise (administrative) versus proactively shaping outcomes. The speaker identifies early warnings, programme management, and prospective compensation event assessment as key proactive tools. He warns that the larger the time lag between on‑site realities and decision‑makers, the fewer opportunities exist to intervene and positively influence project outcomes.

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Project management is about influencing the future, everything else is admin. That was a quote, uh, live at a conference by the late Dr. Martin Barnes, who was the NEC originator, and it really etched itself into my brain as a young sort of commercial person in our industry. Project management is about influencing the future, everything else is admin. So it really said to me what is it that we should be doing here? Are we recording problems as they go wrong, or are we getting ahead of them and influencing the situation for positive output? And you think that's what early warnings are about, that's what program is about, that's what prospective compensation event assessment is about. And the, the bigger the lag between the reality of what's happening on site reaching those decision makers, the less opportunity they have for intervention.