Medieval Origins of Project Management: Byzantine to Gothic

Introduction: Project Management and Its Medieval Roots

The contemporary conception of project management is actually the summation of preceding centuries' worth of work and development within this area. Although this discipline was not termed as such until the 1900s, it has slowly evolved much like any other process utilized throughout the course of history, including "building processes" which "have led to the development of project management" and whose basics "can be traced back to these periods of time" (Yuen 383). These time periods encompass the medieval period in Europe and the Near East, and were stratified to include the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic Golden Age, the Crusades, the Carolingian Renaissance, the Romanesque Period, and the Gothic Period, which collectively account for "project management in the medieval societies from the 5th to 15th century" (Yuen 390). In much the same way that many of the research parameters within Project Management in the Medieval Period: From the Byzantine Empire to the Gothic Period borrowed concepts from adjacent and previously existent cultures to further advance aspects of construction and its techniques — vital components of project management in previous time periods — the nature of project management has also "moved in stride with the fluid and changing project environments" (Yuen 383) to refine itself gradually into the firm academic discipline that it is today.

To truly understand the process of this development, one must view the research contained within this study as it specifically applies to project management. The application areas of the projects selected within this study all relate to the construction of architectural monuments, since "the research regards building construction and engineering structures as the application areas of project management" (Yuen 7). These application areas were analyzed in terms of their project management across each of the aforementioned epochs, encompassing construction technologies, traditions of the master builder, building project activities, architectural principles, and specific skills in general management. Moreover, this study found that these application areas are the direct result of specific cultural, scientific, and economic environments, which had a profound influence on the building projects during each respective time period and on the ongoing refinement of project management more broadly. One can therefore posit that the monuments erected during the medieval period symbolize the best of that time period's social-cultural contributions — its zeitgeist — which is why the five application areas and three environmental influences were used as the eight research topics for this study.

Once historians, readers, and project management professionals are able to understand the connection between the design and construction of buildings — which both symbolized and actualized the management of projects during the medieval period — the project management findings of this study become far more lucid. This notion is particularly true for the conception of project management during the medieval period, as the results of this study consistently indicate that "project activities are created to answer the cultural, political, and social needs of current situations through the available body of knowledge — scientific, economic, and management knowledge" (Yuen 384). This statement underscores the overall importance of project management during the medieval period, which was largely a means of addressing and providing for numerous concerns through the construction and usage of edifices. The utilitarian aspects of many works created during these epochs attest to this fact. If one pauses to consider the mosques created during the Islamic Golden Age, which served religious, educational, and social purposes simultaneously, the true reason why the science of project management had to develop becomes abundantly clear. People needed the services provided by it, for many different reasons — a fact demonstrated by the multifaceted purposes of these mosques, in which "such temples and their surrounding cities were not only places of worship, but also a location for communal gathering designed to encourage group identity. They evolved into the political centre of Islamic society" (Yuen 330).

Furthermore, another highly important aspect of this study's findings is in alignment with the fact that project management is only as effective as the surrounding environment that professionals have to work within. The veracity of this statement was readily demonstrated by the notion that project management is largely reliant upon "scientific, economic, and management knowledge." The findings of this study prove that this body of knowledge is the means of facilitating project management, which is also in accordance with contemporary standards. Indeed, "effective project management requires that the project management team understands and uses knowledge from at least five areas of expertise" (PMBOK, Chapter 1). Even in contemporary times, therefore, project management is largely facilitated by the proper implementation of knowledge.

What is most significant about these findings — and the value placed upon environmental knowledge in project management — is that for the contemporary project manager, the true nature of the profession is revealed through the results of this study. This discipline is actually about facilitating solutions to the myriad needs of society, in whatever capacity or organization a particular project manager is involved. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that such solutions can often be multifaceted and help people in more than one way. Project management is actually the reflection of political, social, and above all cultural needs, and it provides viable responses to those needs. In much the same way that "there is a mutual and dynamic interaction between cultural, scientific and economic forces, and building project activities" (Yuen 375), there is a highly similar interaction between those forces and contemporary project management. Most often, these forces serve to create the environment that influences the solutions project managers devise, and they play a substantial role in the nature and efficacy of such solutions.

Additionally, this study has clearly revealed that the contemporary project manager can ultimately find the basis of his or her occupation in the master builder tradition. There are too many parallels between these two professions for the former not to have descended from the latter. Many of the principles of management and communication that contemporary project managers utilize are reminiscent of those master builders, who facilitated building projects by acting as "the palpable link between a number of vital entities that included most saliently, communication from the client… and the labourers who were actually doing the building" (Yuen 371). This fact is probably the most noteworthy finding of the entire study, at least in terms of contemporary project management. It alludes to the notion that this profession has been practiced long before the current name for it was coined, and that in all regards the master builder was the project manager who would eventually document plans to educate others about techniques of project management (Yuen 371).

This research study provides a chronological history of the evolution of project management from approximately the fifth century to the fifteenth century — a period spanning 1,000 years during which a number of crucial developments were enacted in a discipline not formally recognized as such until midway through the twentieth century. As such, "this study is intended for project management professionals who would like to explore the history of project management" (Yuen 6), and ideally understand how contemporary techniques within this field were initially conceived. The key to understanding the research as relevant to project management lies in the fundamental principle that "the research regards building construction and engineering structures as the application area of project management" (Yuen, Research Summary 1–2). Due to the relatively late emergence of project management as its own discipline, this viewpoint is both understandable and extremely relevant, since "building practice progressed alongside the development of other professions such as agriculture, medicine, economics, mathematics and theoretical science" (Yuen 13). However, because project management has traditionally lacked a "historically conscious foundation" (Yuen 14) regarding its genealogy, this study provides that foundation by beginning with the medieval period of both Europe and the Near East, in order to give professionals within this discipline an additional perspective on the current state of the field.

Relevance to Project Management

Furthermore, by defining previous historical events and circumstances in academic terms currently used for project management, great value is placed on aspects of this profession that are otherwise implicit or subtle. By definition, project management is widely considered, as defined in the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), to be "the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet project requirements" (ch. 1; cited in Yuen 10). However, in order to be consistently successful in completing projects, there is considerably more consideration and work to be done within this field. These additional considerations form an indelible component of the present research, which has stratified these concerns in ways germane to the proper implementation of project management. The research argues that the discipline should not merely focus on the abilities of an individual project manager, but should include a gestalt of "knowledge and skills from the areas of expertise of 'project environments,' 'general management skills,' and 'knowledge of the application area'" (Yuen 386) — "a deliberate orchestration of all these areas of expertise to complete a project."

By analyzing what these different environment areas were in previous centuries for the completion of successful projects in Europe and the Near East, this research delineates specific components that are influential in the conduct of contemporary project management. What is traditionally viewed as the application of an individual's particular skills within a given organization is instead codified into a much greater spectrum encompassing disparate aspects of one's cultural, scientific, and economic environment. These dimensions are used in conjunction with general management skills as well as those germane to specific application areas — in this research, architectural principles, construction technology, and the master builder tradition. Application areas will naturally vary for different project managers and their projects, but by understanding the way the research in this study is presented, other project management professionals will be able to find correlations between the application areas in this research and those relevant to their own work.

The importance of disparate project environments — "namely the cultural, social, political, economic and scientific environments" (Yuen 386) — to the effective completion of projects is repeatedly demonstrated within this research through the erection of monuments, some of which are still existent today. There are also fundamental academic principles of project management, as taught and implemented in contemporary society, that are elucidated within this study and are of immense interest to professionals in this field. In many ways, one may consider the cultural and social environments of a project as vital to its accomplishment, since "project activities are undertaken within various economic, demographic, educational, ethical, ethnic, and religious contexts, all of which need to be appreciated by the project team" (Yuen 25).

The relevance of the cultural and social environments to a particular project is demonstrated in its completion. For example, it would be impossible to distinguish the social and cultural environment that spawned the Hagia Sophia — originally constructed in the sixth century A.D. and still extant today — from the zeitgeist that gave rise to its creation. The stability of Byzantine society was financed by a stable economic principle reliant upon trade, since the empire was located within a nexus of important civilizations. As a direct result of this affluence, Byzantium was highly accomplished in areas of science and cultural aesthetics — including law and classical music — all of which were responsible for the culture that defined this epoch and played an intrinsic part in the relatively swift completion of the Hagia Sophia. As the study notes: "Byzantine scientists actively put mathematics into practice, continuing the efforts of the ancient Greeks. In the field of architecture, early Byzantium watched Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus construct the Hagia Sophia church using mathematical formulae" (Yuen 43).

The cultural and social environment that engendered this enduring monument — today used as a museum — was integral to the effectiveness of the management of this particular project. Essential to the management of this project's application area were numerous innovations in construction technology and technique that fuelled the rapid erection of the Hagia Sophia. The cultural environment of relative affluence and aesthetic development was manifested in the Hagia Sophia's circular dome, the widespread use of which was largely pioneered during the Byzantine period, as well as its "innovative use of pendentives, which are curved triangles supported by half-dome masonry" (Yuen 60). These innovations in the project's application areas were the direct result of the surrounding culture that fostered advances in numerous other areas and was sustained by solid economic support. The relevance of this example to project management is clear: contemporary organizations should strive to create or participate in a progressive culture that is conducive to the formal principles of contemporary project management — such as "the five project management process groups" of "initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing (ch. 3)" (Yuen 21).

Another aspect of this study that is highly relevant to the field of project management as it is understood today is its examination of the various conceptions and techniques associated with general management across a historical span of more than 1,000 years. The value of this aspect should not be underestimated, primarily because "general management is an area of expertise of project management; it represents the organisational and interpersonal skills to get projects done. It is the skill that determines how resources are allocated and optimised. It is the foundation of project management skills" (Yuen 255). One of the key findings that should be incorporated into contemporary project management methods is the fact that "the understanding of managerial techniques varies from culture to culture" (Yuen 256).

Given the emphasis that both historical and contemporary organizations place on culture, the fact that managerial techniques differ between cultures — and may actually reflect those cultures — is a fairly important component of project management. This study demonstrates that a static conception and implementation of project management would never be effective when applied within different time periods and cultures. The management techniques responsible for the building of much of the Crusade architecture, which was centred around defence and a culture in which armed conflict was a reality, would more than likely not have produced the vast, aesthetically and culturally rich mosques that were endemic to the Islamic Golden Age.

It is interesting to note how many of the historical management practices used during the Muslim epoch analyzed within this study — spanning from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries — are a direct result of, and enmeshed with, the cultural values existent at the time. In a deeply religious society, the primary form of management was filtered from divine authority down through relationships between government and citizens, and between supervisors and employees. This was best illustrated by Al-Ghazali's Nasihat, which contended that "good leadership was a sacred duty and pleased God if executed correctly. In order to provide effective leadership, the leader must establish a model of right or moral conduct and be kept informed regarding any information that might affect his management of the empire. This reinforced the connection between moral conduct and effective management" (Yuen 259). These standards were also applied to the management of such noteworthy construction projects as the Great Mosque of Kairouan.

Furthermore, it is notable how similar the tenets of management used during the Muslim time period are to the interpersonal skills essential to contemporary project management. There is a definite moral component to the leadership and motivation considerations of those skills, the latter of which is principally employed for "empowering people to perform to the best of their ability and to overcome obstacles as they arise" (Yuen 25). The exhibition of solid ethics and moral behaviour serves to create effective leadership and to motivate individuals to perform their tasks — concepts central to both project management and management in general. The research performed within this paper traces the genealogy of such ideas, which are vital to project management as a whole. This study is therefore relevant to the field of project management since it illustrates previous methods of management and leadership — such as the notion that there is a moral or even divine element to both — that may be of practical use within this discipline today.