Stop reporting what happened. Start controlling what happens next.
In this talk, William Doyle MRICS argues that project management should be a proactive discipline aimed at shaping future outcomes rather than merely documenting past events. He cites the late Dr. Martin Barnes, who described project management as "influencing the future" with everything else being administrative. Doyle uses this philosophy to frame key proactive practices—early warning systems, programme management, and prospective compensation event assessment—as tools to anticipate and mitigate issues before they materialise. He stresses that the larger the time lag between on‑site realities and the decision‑makers, the fewer opportunities exist for effective intervention, underscoring the need for rapid information flow and forward‑looking decision processes.
