The Role of Art
In particular, there is a need to introduce a greater
“art” dimension to projects in order to reduce the
risks related to neglect of the people-related aspects
of change. These are especially important in the
context of sustainability because employees need
to understand and be convinced of the need to
implement the changes necessary for sustainable
business, especially if these involve extra work and
the benefits are intangible or only realized in the
longer term.
In general, the frequent lack of attention
to art in organizational change can largely be
attributed to the “science”-focused nature of the
formal project management discipline, which
originated in industries such as construction and
IT in which people-related factors are of lower
importance than in other sectors and organizational
contexts. In the case of sustainability, however,
the successful implementation of projects relies
very much on the engagement and involvement
of employees throughout the organization, and
securing this requires a range of skills and attributes
not traditionally given high importance in project
management compared with the “science” skills
involved, for example, in developing a project
budget, work breakdown schedule and risk
management plan.