The following is offered “tongue in cheek, ” that is, post is meant to be humorous in an ironic way, and is not meant to be taken literally.
That said, I believe you will find a few grains of truth in the 15 Immutable Project Management Laws.
LAW 1
No major project is ever completed on time, within budget, with the same staff that started it, nor does the project do what it is supposed to do. It is highly unlikely that yours will be the first
Corollary 1
The benefits will be smaller than initially estimated, if estimates were made at all
Corollary 2
The system finally installed will be completed late and will not do what it is supposed to do
Corollary 3
It will cost more but will be technically successful
LAW 2
One advantage of fuzzy project objectives is that they let you avoid embarrassment in estimating the corresponding costs
LAW 3
The effort required to correct a project that is off course increases geometrically with time
Corollary 1
The longer you wait the harder it gets
Corollary 2
If you wait until the project is completed, its too late
Corollary 3
Do it now regardless of the embarrassment
LAW 4
The project purpose statement you wrote and understand will be seen differently by everyone else
Corollary 1
If you explain the purpose so clearly that no one could possibly misunderstand, someone will
Corollary 2
If you do something that you are sure will meet everyone’s approval, someone will not like it
LAW 5
Measurable benefits are real. Intangible benefits are not measurable, thus intangible benefits are not real
Corollary 1
Intangible benefits are real if you can prove that they are real
LAW 6
Anyone who can work effectively on a project part-time certainly does not have enough to do now
Corollary 1
If a boss will not give a worker a full-time job, you shouldn’t either
Corollary 2
If the project participant has a time conflict, the work given by the full-time boss will not suffer
LAW 7
The greater the project’s technical complexity, the less you need a technician to manage it
Corollary 1
Get the best manager you can. The manager will get the technicians
Corollary 2
The reverse of corollary 1 is almost never true
LAW 8
A carelessly planned project will take three times longer to complete than expected. A carefully planned project will only take twice as long
Corollary 1
If nothing can possibly go wrong, it will anyway
LAW 9
When the project is going well, something will go wrong
Corollary 1
When things cannot get any worse, they will
Corollary 2
When things appear to be going better, you have overlooked something
LAW 10
Project teams detest weekly progress reporting because it so vividly manifests their lack of progress
LAW 11
Projects progress rapidly until they are 90 percent complete. Then they remain 90 percent complete forever
LAW 12
If project content is allowed to change freely, the rate of change will exceed the rate of progress
LAW 13
If the user does not believe in the system, a parallel system will be developed. Neither system will work very well
LAW 14
Benefits achieved are a function of the thoroughness of the post-audit check
Corollary 1
The prospect of an independent post-audit provides the project team with a powerful incentive to deliver a good system on schedule within budget
LAW 15
No law is immutable
-From the Internet