Project Management Evolution: From Ancient Times to 1900s

Introduction: History Confirms Project Management's Value

"Archetypically, Apollo manifests as an image of the modern project manager — one who works well within the interior of her or his organization, moving effortlessly across and between horizontal boundaries, but does not adopt the necessities of power in order to move vertically."

— Henderson, Interpretation and Discussion Section, ¶ 11

Professions like architecture, engineering, medicine, economics, technology, astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology all have their own well-documented histories. As a professional architect, the researcher asserts that project management also deserves a relevant recounting of its history. Since ancient times, people throughout the world have been building projects that enrich cultural heritage and have contributed to project management's remarkable evolution. The pyramids of Egypt and other structures bear witness to project management's accomplishments. The science of project management — a reportedly new label or term — has in fact long been practiced by ancient civilizations.

The first event noted in the history of time illustrating project management occurred when, according to scripture, God created the world in six days. Over time, the role of project management has proved to be critical in different companies worldwide. Contemporary companies continuously manage their practices and incorporate tradition, enabling them to survive in growing global competition. As they strive to become successful, companies perpetually implement projects and different measures to generate more profit and enhance their corporate value. In light of this vision, project management comprises a critical component in and for an organization's operations.

Project management as a discipline reportedly dates back to the Egyptian epoch. In the mid-1950s, its use expanded to include contemporary complex projects. With the recognition of its ability to speed up processes, the project management system started to gain recognition in management practices (Azzopardi). Project management refers to the ways one manages work to develop and implement an innovation or change in a company's existing operations. This may include activities like planning and controlling project activities as well as considerations relating to budget and time constraints required to finish the project on time in compliance with the requirements of the client or the company.

The primary elements of the project management process include planning, scheduling, and control (Russell and Taylor). Other skills encompassed by the discipline of project management include an understanding of the interdependencies among people, technologies, budgets, and expectations. Project management also embraces the capacity to plan a project while maximizing productivity and encouraging and empowering others to properly execute particular plan stipulations. Most importantly, it involves a continuous process of reworking and tailoring the plan to specific and unexpected realities which could occur during the execution of the project's process (Howes).

Project management depicts a company's planned, carefully and thoroughly organized efforts to accomplish a one-time effort, such as the construction of a particular building or the completion of a specific task. Project management primarily aims to attain maximum productivity while entailing minimum waste. It also addresses the human need for a management system optimal enough to trigger a more effective workforce and to engender the success of the business.

As a discipline among major companies, some perceive modern project management as a well-understood discipline capable of producing repetitive and predictable results. The methods employed today in project management, however, are analytic and usually require automated tools. Learning the discipline of project management requires an investment of time in both the methods of practice and study. The practices in project management, evident since ancient times, formed the framework and techniques that project managers now routinely use.

Contemporary project management comprises a critical component not only among industry practitioners, but also to a myriad of individuals involved in extraordinary as well as ordinary day-to-day activities. The concepts contributing to project management, which evolved from ancient practices, help ensure that workers complete each phase of a venture to properly carry out projects efficiently and in a timely manner. With the help of project management techniques passed down through the ages, operations result in the production of better outputs.

The definition of project management depicts the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements (PMBOK Guide). In light of this concept and to support the premise of the study, the researcher addresses the following four relevant research questions, which simultaneously serve to guide the process of gathering data and conducting the research:

1. What knowledge and skills did past civilizations apply to project activities to satisfy project requirements?

2. What techniques and tools did past civilizations apply to project activities to comply with project requirements?

3. What project activities as well as their requirements do samples of past civilizations portray?

4. How did various phenomena and changes in different times of history lead to the development of modern project management as Gantt and Fayol formulated it?

The study focuses on the evolution of project management from the earliest times to the turn of the 20th century, just before Henry Gantt and Henri Fayol — the two forefathers of modern project management. The study is organized as follows:

Ancient Knowledge and Skills

I. Introduction
II. Definitions and Explanations
III. Statement of the Problem and Hypothesis
IV. Aims and Objectives of Study

In the quest for credible answers to the paper's research questions, the researcher traces numerous historical details indicating the evolution of project management. The research questions support the study's hypothesis: Significant events in earlier times have led to the development of modern project management.

Extraordinary examples of ancient projects exhibiting the skills of past project managers include the majestic pyramids, ancient cities, great cathedrals and mosques, the Great Wall of China, and numerous other wonders of the world. During the third millennium B.C., unknown project managers watched workers position and secure stones together to construct the great pyramids of Cheops. In Project Management for Business and Engineering: Principles and Practice, John M. Nicholas asserts that even though much of the technology the ancient Egyptians used to build pyramids remains a mystery, the enormity and quality of the finished product continues to amaze those who view the marvelous construction. Nicholas notes:

"Despite the lack of sophisticated machinery, [the Egyptians] were able to raise and fit some 2,300,000 stone blocks, weighing two to 70 tons apiece, into a structure the height of a modern 40-story building. Each facing stone was set against the next with an accuracy of .04-inch, and the base, which covers 13 acres, deviates less than 1 inch from level. Equally as staggering was the number of workers involved. To quarry the stones and transport them down the Nile, about 100,000 laborers were levied. In addition, 40,000 skilled masons were employed in preparing and laying the blocks and erecting or dismantling the ramps. It is estimated that no less than 150,000 women and children also had to be housed and fed." (Nicholas, p. 2)

Contemporary project management does not dramatically differ from project management that managers used hundreds or even thousands of years ago — even when Noah built the ark or when project managers designed and built medieval castles. In Project Management Jumpstart, Kim Heldman contends that even though project managers today have access to a myriad of tools not available in ancient times, like computers and software planning tools, the core processes they employ today basically resemble those of the past. Typically in ancient civilizations, an individual — possibly the ruler of a kingdom with access to large amounts of money — recruited and hired project managers to design and complete his project. In turn, project managers, considered experts, oversaw the entire building process. At times, when the completed project did not meet the owner's specifications, the project manager would be "beheaded."

In contemporary times, project managers are not literally beheaded when a project goes awry. Currently, however, as in the past, individuals and organizations use project management "to accomplish non-recurring goals bound by time, place (or situation), resources, and particular scopes of work" (Henderson, ¶ 2). In the journal article "Reflecting on Athens 2004: What We Can Learn about Modern Project Management from Ancient Olympian Archetypes," Linda S. Henderson reports that organizational hierarchies, structures, processes, and lines of authority do not bound project management as a discipline. A survey of members in the Organization Development and Change (OD&C) Division of the Academy of Management identifies "project management as one of seven foundation skills within Organization Development" (Henderson, ¶ 1). The six additional foundation skills in OD comprise: coaching skills, conceptualizing, collaborative working, interpersonal communication, presentation and education, problem-solving, and using new technology.

Like project managers today, ancient project managers recorded detailed plans for their projects. During ancient days, project managers sometimes inscribed their plans on stones. The evidence of these projects typically took shape in three primary forms. In Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation, David I. Cleland and Lewis R. Ireland report that "a review of the results of projects in antiquity reveals evidence about how several historical projects originated and developed" (p. 4):

1. The first type of evidence, known as artifacts, typically came from human workmanship — structures, tools, weapons, or items of archeological or historical interest. The Great Pyramids and the printing press reflect momentous examples of artifacts.

2. The second type of evidence, cultural strategies, could be found in the arts, beliefs, institutions, or other works from a certain time period typical of a particular society. The English Magna Carta, the U.S. Emancipation Proclamation, and the U.S. Social Security Program portray examples of this type of evidence.

3. The third type of evidence includes literature and documents — publications or project-related documents that described project management during a particular time. Articles, books, or editorials that discuss project management and the details of a project mirror these references (Cleland and Ireland, p. 4).

Figure 1 depicts the three types of evidence for historical projects. "The potential for overlapping fields of evidence of projects provides a framework for assessing the historical events that led to the application of resources to work to create change" (Cleland and Ireland, p. 4).

In the 1950s, project management received recognition as a separate or distinct form of management. "Since the early 1950s, names and labels have been given to the elements of the project management discipline, helping to facilitate its further development as a profession" (Cleland and Ireland, p. 4). Previous forms of project management focused on cost, scheduling, and technical performance but did not have a formal definition.

The formal definition of project management has grown over the last hundreds of years, evolving from original definitions. "The single term 'project' has an origin that dates back several hundreds of years. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word 'project' was first used in the sixteenth century" (Cleland and Ireland, p. 4). The following examples from the Oxford English Dictionary from the years 1600–1916 illustrate this evolution:

Year 1600: "A projecte, conteyninge the State, Order and Manner of Governments of the University of Cambridge. As it is now to be seen."

Year 1601 — Holland Pliny II 335: "Many other plots and projects there doc renaime of his (Parasius') drawing…"

1623 — T. Scot Highw: "All our Projects of draining surrounded grounds…"

1863 — Geo. Eliot Rhola Proem: "We Florentines were too full of great building projects to carry them all out in stone and marble…"

Year 1916 — M.D. Snedden in School and Society 2:420: "Some of us began using the word 'project' to describe a unit of educative work in which the prominent feature was a form of positive and concrete achievement." (Cleland and Ireland, p. 4)

Ancient Techniques and Tools

Even in ancient times, prior to the modern understanding of project management, people worked together creating, designing, and building projects. Cleland and Ireland explain that "from the period circa 1950 to the present time, there is a growing abundance of articles, books, papers, and miscellaneous documentation that can be used to build a contemporary model of project management" (p. 5). Although tools and techniques have evolved enormously over the past thousands of years, every project manager — even Noah, one of the earliest, who received his direction from God — has had to start from the basics: direction and planning.

Even though project management only formally qualified as a discipline about 50 years ago, project managers created and built projects thousands of years earlier. Pyramids serve as examples of some of the most ancient projects. B. Michael Aucoin recounts in Right-Brain Project Management: A Complementary Approach that according to modern estimations, "the Great Pyramid of Egypt took approximately 20 years to build and was staffed with perhaps more than 300,000 workers. Obviously, a project of this magnitude required considerable planning and management" (p. 116). Due to design changes and sometimes a lack of materials or tools, project managers had to adapt and change many ancient projects over time.

The construction of the pyramids in Egypt required the project manager's determination and concentrated efforts. Schmaltz reports that some workers died during the construction of ancient projects due to poorly managed systems. The Great Pyramid of Giza, constructed circa 2560 B.C. and measuring 481 feet high, is believed to have used 2 million stone blocks weighing more than two tons each. For more than 43 centuries, this pyramid was considered the tallest structure in the world (Ireland). The process of building the pyramids — noted as some of the most accurately structured stone constructions in the world — would not have been possible without proper project management (Coppens).

The colonization of the Americas by European explorers and settlers represents another prominent example of a project requiring adaptation. Individuals working on this particular project had to adapt to a new environment and unfamiliar conditions. Knowledge Management (KM) constitutes another discipline of management practiced in ancient times. In Essentials of Knowledge Management, Bryan P. Bergeron reports that even in ancient times, "organized business sought a competitive advantage that would allow it to serve customers as efficiently as possible, maximize profits, develop a loyal customer following, and keep the competition at bay, regardless of whether the product is rugs, spices, or semiconductors" (p. 1). Even 15,000 years ago, managers kept records of pertinent knowledge, not only for their personal and professional reference but also for those in the future.

In Mesopotamia over 5,000 years ago, records such as legal contracts, tax assessments, and laws kept on baked-clay tablets were sometimes lost. Bergeron explains that "the solution was the start of the first institution dedicated to Knowledge Management — the library. In libraries, located in the center of town, the collection of tablets was attended to by professional knowledge managers" (Bergeron, p. 1). As military forces seeking to secure sensitive information sometimes raided these libraries, officials often permitted access only to political and religious leaders.

A number of historical projects have significantly influenced and changed the development of cities, countries, and individuals throughout the world. Table 1 depicts a number of these projects, their dates, and key details (adapted from Cleland and Ireland, p. 13):

Ancient Roman Roads (312 B.C.): A planned system of public roads around Rome constructed and maintained by the state. The roads were constructed from different materials layered to provide durability, ranging in width from 8 to 40 feet with ditches for good drainage.

The First Steam Engine: Built to pump water from mines, this engine used atmospheric pressure to power the thrust of a piston by cooling steam to create a vacuum. Later versions used steam directly to power the piston.

The Coliseum of Rome (First Century): Constructed to a height of 160 feet and capable of seating about 50,000 spectators.

The Catacombs of Alexandria, Egypt (Second Century A.D.): Originally the graves of a single family, these catacombs are more than 100 feet below ground at their lowest point.

The Dikes of Holland (begun in the Thirteenth Century): A water management system that recovers land. Levees and dams retain water while windmills pump excess water out — representing the recovery and use of more than 160,000 hectares of land.

The Siberian Transcontinental Railroad (1891–1905): Built to link Moscow with Vladivostok — a distance of some 6,000 miles — aiding in transporting materials in both directions.

The Exploratory Journals of Ponce de León (1540–1621): Resulted in the discovery and claiming of Florida for Spain. Ponce de León accompanied Columbus on his second voyage to America in 1493 and served as governor of the Dominican Republic.

The Inventions of Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790): Franklin was a man of science as well as a statesman. He is best known for his experiments flying a kite during an electrical storm, thereby "discovering" electricity. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and produced a half-dozen significant inventions, the lightning rod being the most notable. He clearly understood the meaning of a project and how a successful project can lead to strategic changes in an environment.

Conclusion and Study Objectives

As this study reflects, history abounds with examples, guidelines, and lessons contributing to modern project management. The massive range of activities that fit under the universal umbrella of a project makes project management interesting and eternal. Another significant observation Aucoin makes "is that project management is much more than a group of people working on something according to a plan. It is much more dynamic in terms of organization, external factors, methods, and tools" (p. 45). Projects, as ancient examples confirm, are not static. They, just like project management, evolve over, in, and through time.