M01_01_DIG3521

What Is a Project?
[00:00:00.48] [BRIGHT TONES]

[00:00:04.83] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:00:13.05] Hey, what's up, everybody? Welcome to DIG3521, Project Methodologies. My

name is Tim. And in this class, we are going to jump into, What is a Project?

[00:00:24.73] So we're going to talk a little bit about the introduction to a project and project
management. We're going to discuss something called the Project Landscape in future modules.
And then we're going to look at Programs and Portfolios all later. But for today, let's take a quick
look at, What is a Project?

[00:00:42.22] So let's jump right in. So you may have done projects in the past. It might be a
class project. It may be a home-based project. Maybe you're updating your yard. And it's the
summertime. You're putting in some new grass or some new sod.

[00:00:54.09] Or maybe you worked on a senior project, maybe here at Digital Worlds. And your
senior project, you're making a video game. Or maybe you did a project for your internship. Or
maybe you work right now part time. Or you work while you go to school. And you've done
projects.

[00:01:10.02] And so there's a lot of people who say, oh, we've done projects. We have different
terminology for projects. Maybe we haven't really dug deep into the definition of projects. Well,
the thing we're going to look at for this class that is unique is, projects in the professional world
take on a different context.

[00:01:27.61] So let me pause. Let me just break this down for just a minute. So this whole class,
project management, you may say, OK, I know how to manage some projects. I know how to be
on task. I know how to check my email. I know how to make sure things move along. Well, in
the professional world, project management is actually a field of study. It's an entire career path.
It's not something just tacked on to a position.

[00:01:49.78] So for this class specifically, we're going to be looking at project management
through the lens of the professional industry. So whether that's through game design and game
development, there's actually a project manager who runs that. Whether it's for animations,
there's a project manager who runs that. Whether it's for documentaries or studio filming, there's
a specific job for just project management.

[00:02:12.40] Now, the industry of project management has to have some guidelines. So let's say
you graduate. And you want to go apply for a job at Pixar. And you see online, indeed.com, or
maybe you're just googling for different jobs, or LinkedIn. You see Pixar project manager. You
say, hmm, I've done that. I can do that.

[00:02:30.39] Now, Pixar, how do they know if you know all the elements that make up this
industry profession of project management? How would they check that?

[00:02:38.50] Well, they could check your resume, saw that you did some college projects.
Maybe you did some for the industry, for your work, maybe at Publix-- it's a grocery store
around here in Florida-- or whatever it may be. But there's actually a better way to check if you
have the skills when it comes to project management. And that's a thing called PMP-- stay with
me-- Project Management Professional.

[00:03:01.92] Now, that is an actual industry certificate, a credential that you can get, just like if
you were Dr. Darius Brown or Dr. Sara Walker. You have that doctor before. You can actually
have a PMP certificate or tag to your name, that Project Management Professional.

[00:03:20.85] Now, that certificate comes from a group called the Project Management Institute.
Now, that is a nationally recognized institution that comes up with the standards for what is
project management and what makes up a project. So if Disney sees that you have a PMP
credential, most likely you're going to get the thumbs up over someone who doesn't have that
PMP credential.

[00:03:46.32] So for this class, when we talk about what is a project, it may seem a little bit
foreign to maybe how you've worked on projects or managed projects before. But trust me, the
goal is not just to get us to know how to run our class projects. The goal of this class is to really
vault us forward in the industry experience of what project management really is.

[00:04:07.92] Now, you can use the things we talk about in this lecture and in this class for
managing projects for industries such as construction, architecture, landscape design, graphic
design, running a studio, a warehouse. The project management concepts we're going to talk
about, which are supported by this group called PMI, Project Management Institute, our
universal.

[00:04:31.11] Think about the SAT. The SAT is a nationally recognized exam. Well, the PMP,
the Project Management Professional, exam is very similar. So when we talk about what is a
project, which is the first question on the floor right now, I want you to think of it through the
lens, for the rest of this class, of a professional industry and not maybe necessarily as a hobby or
something we do on the weekends when we work on our house, or we redesign our home, or we
bake a cake, or any of those kind of things that are more hobby level. When we talk about project
management, we are thinking industry wide.

[00:05:07.53] All right. You still with me? Let's jump in. So what is the project?

[00:05:11.19] We've all done them before. We've taken on different projects. We've made maybe
some animations in a class. Maybe we run a club, and we have a club project, a weekend project,
a philanthropy project.
[00:05:22.69] All these things, do they fit in the lens of what we're talking about for this class?
So let's take a look at what the Project Management Institute, and this class, defines as a project.
Let's check it out.

[00:05:36.14] So a project, let's break this down real quick. Now, this is supported in the book.
So go ahead and check that out. A project is a sequence. A sequence of what? Of unique,
complex, and connected activities. OK. Let's rework that.

[00:05:50.14] Now, there's more to this definition. I'm just breaking it down into chunks. What's
easy for me, when I have to memorize a lot of data, and you might have to memorize a few
things just in this class-- just a heads up. Like this definition, we want to make sure we log this
away.

[00:06:02.77] I like to break things down into manageable, digestible chunks. For example, if I
need to get to the letter C, I like to start at A and go from A to B and B to C. And that helps me
learn the alphabet. So I took this definition, and I broke it down into some different chunks. So
this is just the first part. So let's lean in real quick.

[00:06:21.67] A project is a sequence of activities. It's a sequence of tasks. It's a sequence of

work that needs to be done. Now, how would you define those activities? What are the attributes
of those activities?

[00:06:37.30] Well, they're unique. They're complex. And they're connected. So when you start
thinking about a project, a project is a sequence of activities. Now, those activities are unique,
complex, and connected.

[00:06:50.56] You following me? OK. Let's lean in.

[00:06:53.14] Now, the next part of the definition is-- and here's just an example real quick of
how those activities could look, by the way. They're kind of connected. And they're sequenced,
right? So that's a good little def-- or a little chart right there that we're going to see in the book.

[00:07:07.03] Now let's go to the next part of this definition. It's a project that is a sequence of
activities that are unique, complex, and connected. But they all have one goal or one purpose.

[00:07:17.53] OK. Let's pause. Have you ever done public speaking? Have you ever been on
stage and had to present an idea, maybe a TED Talk kind of feel? Or maybe it's a class
presentation. And you've got three big bullet points, kind of like those middle school papers we
all have to write. You had an intro, three supporting paragraphs, and then a conclusion.

[00:07:35.21] Now, in public speaking, the goal is that you have these three topics, but they all
have to point to one big idea. So at the end of the day, for example, this module that I'm talking
about right now, if you forget everything that I'm talking about, the one thing I want you to
remember, the one big idea I want you to take away is-- and that would be the big idea. Now, for
this class, it would be what is a project. That's the big idea for this video that we're working on
now.
[00:08:03.31] But it's the same thing for a project. A project has one big idea. It has one goal. It
has one purpose.

[00:08:10.13] So maybe you have a project, and you're like, I want the project to do this, get me
a job, make me this much money. I want to get this. I want to get this. I want to get it. All these
goals, that's not what we're talking about. We are talking about one goal.

[00:08:23.29] Let's take an example. Let's pause. And we'll break all these down in a moment.

[00:08:26.83] But maybe you're a senior right now. Maybe you're doing your senior project,
maybe here a Digital Worlds. And this project has one goal. What is the goal of that project?

[00:08:38.15] Well, it's probably to help you graduate. The goal of this project realistically is, I
need to graduate and get out of school, right? So that would be the one goal.

[00:08:49.39] Now, there may be subgoals. And there may be subrequirements you want to do.
And we're going to talk about that in a moment. But that project that you're doing has one goal,
one purpose.

[00:08:58.07] So as I'm talking about this definition, I want you to reflect. I want you to start
thinking about, hmm, the projects I've done, the activities I've done. Are they considered a
project? I want you to wash them through the lens of what is a project, based on the Project
Management Institute.

[00:09:15.68] All right. You with me? So a project, one more time, is a sequence of unique,
complex, and connected activities having what? One goal or one purpose. But there's more.
Now, that one goal and one purpose must be completed by what? A specific time, within budget,
and according to specification.

[00:09:36.16] All right. So I know there's a lot there. And you can see all the pretty colored
words that are on the screen. And I want you to lean into those words, because we're about to
break all of those words down.

[00:09:45.28] Hey, if you need some supplemental material, go check out the book and follow
along here. The book gives you a little more girth, a little more detail potentially in some of these
things. Check it out. It's going to help you along the way.

[00:09:56.42] So with this definition of what is a project, let's look at the first thing that we were
talking about, which is a sequence of activities. So what is a sequence of activities? Well, a
project comprises a number of activities that must be completed in some specific order, or
sequence.

[00:10:17.90] So it's these activities that are aligned in a sequence, or an order. And an activity
would be potentially defined as a body of work to be completed, just generically speaking. That
makes sense, right, everybody? An activity could be a task or a body of work that needs to get
wrapped up.
[00:10:34.87] All right. So on the right, you might be looking here, and you see things. Can
anybody name that game? What's that game?

[00:10:41.77] That's right. It's Cooking Mama. It's these sequence-based games that, if you've
ever played them, you have to rush against the clock or against an opponent. And you have to
call up the recipe that the game is asking for, or your customers are asking for, lickety-split.

[00:10:57.17] So they may say, hey, we need a hamburger stat with a bun, with ketchup, with
mustard, with pickles, tomato. But make sure you don't have any onions. They're allergic to
onions.

[00:11:07.54] So you've got to run your little character around the kitchen. You've got to fry up a
burger. You need to throw down some buns. Get that ketchup. Get that mustard. Get that pickle.
But make sure you do not put onions, because they're allergic. And the whole game is about
sequencing the activities for the completion of the game.

[00:11:23.24] Now, you have to do this all in a time. And that's pretty much what we're talking
about here with project management. The first attribute of a project is this sequencing of
activities.

[00:11:32.63] Now let's take a moment and pause because this is kind of confusing for a lot of
people. You're going to read the book. And you're going to see this line here that's in the
PowerPoint that says, "A sequence of activities is based on technical requirements, not
management prerogatives."

[00:11:47.20] And you sit back. You say, Tim, what does that mean? What does it mean that it's
technical requirements and not management prerogatives? Well, let's break that down a little bit.

[00:11:55.97] So when we say a sequence of activities, let's say there's task A, activity A. And
then there's activity B and activity C. Now, when we build them in project management, a good
project would have those linked. So A is complete. It goes to B. And it goes to C.

[00:12:12.55] A good way to think about technical requirements is thinking of inputs and
outputs. Does anybody know maybe logistics? Maybe you're from a business background. And
you think of things like, I don't know, let's say Walmart. We all know Walmart, Target.

[00:12:26.14] The trucks come from Walmart into a warehouse. So imagine this big semi comes
in and backs into a warehouse. Now, the things in that Walmart truck may get removed from the
truck, go into the warehouse, and then go into another delivery truck to be sent to the store. So
the output of one truck becomes the input of another truck. That's what we're talking about when
we say a sequence of activities.

[00:12:51.07] An activity on a technical side, the completion or the output of one activity, leads
us to the sequenced input of the next activity. Let me break it down. Anybody a game designer
out there? Maybe you make video games. OK. Let's talk about that pipeline a little bit.
[00:13:06.34] If you've made video games before, you can't start, let's say, testing the game until
you've started to program some of the basic functions. Let's say you want to test an alpha of the
game. You want to be able to take the controller and start moving Mario around the screen and
jumping to see if it's even fun. And before you can test it, someone needs to program it. Even if
it's just bare bones basic, someone needs to program that task, complete that task, before
someone can start the next task, which is testing.

[00:13:38.45] OK. Another one-- animation. I know I'm drawing this out, but let me just make
sure we're clear. Animation, if anybody knows that, to animate character you first need to model
the character. Someone needs to actually, like out of digital clay, take it, mold it, and make
Woody off of Toy Story. Someone needs to model the character.

[00:13:58.31] Once that activity is complete, and it's a technical requirement, that activity, the
modeling, is done, then the next activity, for example, could be, if you want to get down the line,
you could say animate. Or you could say something like texture. If anybody knows what
texturing is, that's where you kind of paint the freckles and the skin and the look of the character.
So somebody would model. Then they could texture.

[00:14:24.52] Now, you see how that's a technical requirement? The modeling is technical. The
texturing is technical. The programming for a video game is technical. The play testing is
technical.

[00:14:37.65] Now, it's not management prerogatives. And what that means, management
prerogatives, think about things like personnel, employees, people who work. The book uses a
person named Pete. So you would never build a task around Pete.

[00:14:51.51] So task one, Pete will do this. And then task two, when Pete is done, Pete will do
task two. The problem with that is you're building the task around Pete. And that is a false
relationship. Building it around Pete is not a stable relationship. Why?

[00:15:12.12] Pete could quit. And your task one is Pete. Your task two is around Pete. And task
three is around Pete. It's not around the technical aspects. You're bringing in the human resources
element or the management element of it.

[00:15:23.77] So not to confuse anybody, the goal of sequenced activities is around the technical
thing. We write the script. We get the script to the actors. Then we bring them in the studio, and
we record.

[00:15:36.66] Notice how every activity is technical. It's not Pete does this. Pete does this. Pete
does this. There's a relationship, and Pete's at the center of it.

[00:15:46.65] We'll bring in Pete later. Don't worry. In project management, we're going to talk
about bringing resources onto the task. But when we think about a project and sequencing, we
think of the technical requirements.

[00:15:55.99] OK. That was drawn out. Let's jump to the next one. All right.
[00:15:59.25] Unique activities, this is really simple. This is really intuitive. Every activity,
activity A leads to B, leads to C. They're unique. It's not activity A leads to activity A. Those are
the same.

[00:16:14.83] We try to string along a sequence of unique activities that each activity is different
in nature from the other. For example, like we talked about, modeling is different than texturing.
And texturing is different than the next step in animation. If anybody knows it, it's-- say it out
loud. That's right. It's rigging.

[00:16:33.90] You rig the character. And we'll talk about this later, but it's actually adding bones
to the 3D model. So then you can later-- now that you have bones, you can actually move the
model around. So that would be another unique activity. The next unique activity would then be
animating.

[00:16:48.84] So a project is a sequence of activities. And those activities are what? They're
unique.

[00:16:54.72] Well, the next one is they're complex. Each activity in itself has multiple layers to
it, layers of complexity. They're not just a singular task. Let's go back to our animation
technique.

[00:17:08.50] So anybody who's taken a modeling class here at Digital Worlds on how to 3D
model, you know there are layers and layers and layers of how to model. It's not just painting a
room, as an example. It's not just, go wash the car. That's more of a singular task.

[00:17:26.01] Now, these activities we're talking about are deep. For example, designing an
intuitive user interface takes levels and levels of multiple tasks and levels of thinking. There's
complexity to them.

[00:17:38.20] So maybe you're looking at something, and you're a programmer. And one of your
tasks is to set up a database and to start working on the online functionality for multiplayer
networking of a game. I mean, that is a complex task. I think we can all agree. There is
complexity to that.

[00:17:54.99] Maybe you're a game designer, and you have to figure out how to take the controls
of this game that were once on a handheld controller, and now you need to move them to a Wii
motion remote kind of thing. And it's got gyro and all these-- that's a complex task to do. We're
not talking about simple, singular tasks. We're talking about multilayered, complex tasks.

[00:18:18.61] Now, as we're going through this, again, reflect on some of the projects you've
done in the past. Does it line up? Would you start to consider it? Maybe so far, so good. Let's
keep going.

[00:18:27.99] All right. The next thing that we talked about in this definition is, they are
connected activities. Now, don't get this confused with sequenced. They are connected. Now,
what connected means is that there's a logical relationship between these activities. They make
sense.

[00:18:44.77] So, for example, let's say I need you to go film B-roll out at the Smoky Mountains.
We're doing a documentary on the Smoky Mountains here in the United States. You need to go
out and film, and get this eagle and this bear and all this cool footage.

[00:19:02.59] OK. The activities that I would give you, as a project manager, would need to be
connected in nature. So, for example, they may be something like, we need-- one of the activities
might be going out into this location and getting an audio plate, or noise recording. And that's
where you sit out there and you record the noise of the environment.

[00:19:24.98] And then once you get that, and there's a lot of technicality and complexity to that,
then you move on. And I need you to get all the close-up shots, the really zoomed-in shots of this
special bird. And then I need you to get some wide shots. And then I need you to get-- all of the
tasks, the activities that we are giving, are connected technically. They lead to a final project or
goal.

[00:19:48.62] You see how they're connected? Once we get the close-up shots, then we can get
the mid-shots. Then we can get the wide shots. The connectivity between these tasks is very
logical.

[00:19:58.76] Now, here's an example that wouldn't be. To go film this documentary, I need you
to run the Publix. I need you to pick up some Pub's subs. I want a chicken tender sub. Then when
you're done that, I need you to go pick up the mail down the street.

[00:20:13.67] When you're done picking up the mail, go film the B-roll, only the close-ups of the
birds. When you're done that, I want you to come back, and I want you to work on the website.
Figure out a nice, cool logo.

[00:20:24.76] When you look at the connectiveness of those tasks, they really don't make sense
to lead to filming and completing all the B-roll. Does that make sense, everybody? There is a
connected, logical, and technical relationship between these activities. The output from one
activity leads to the direct input, potentially, of another activity.

[00:20:44.95] Let's go back to our animation example. By modeling that character, it leads us
directly into texturing the UVs of those characters. Check out UVs in one of our modeling,
animation, and texturing classes if you don't know what I'm talking about.

[00:20:58.87] And then from there, you can go into rigging the character. The output leads to the
input. That's a technical and logical relationship. So hopefully that makes sense.

[00:21:07.25] So we've got a couple more things we want to go over here. We've got a singular
goal. All projects have one goal, not five goals, not 10 goals, not 16 goals, one goal. Projects are
singularly defined. They have a unique and accurately described goal.
[00:21:25.82] What is the outcome? What are we trying to solve? So when you come to a
project, you need to say, hmm, what is the problem that this project will solve. That can help us
find the goal.

[00:21:36.82] You may look at the project, and you may say, OK, what is the opportunity in the
marketplace that this project could solve or could bring value to? Those are things we look at
when we say singular goal, so a singular aim.

[00:21:51.76] Now, you may have a big goal. Let's go back to the example we talked about
earlier. You're a senior at Digital Worlds. You're finishing up your final project to graduate this
class. It's your capstone piece. You've been working on this documentary. It is awesome.

[00:22:06.13] Well, I would ask, what is the singular goal of this project? And you would say, as
we talked about before, graduating. I want to graduate. I want to wrap this all up and graduate.
Perfect. That's your singular goal.

[00:22:17.68] Now, you may have subgoals, or what we would call project management, which
we'll talk about later, requirements. That would be things like, I need this project to be completed
by April 15 because that's the deadline for this project. I need to do this project, this
documentary. It needs to be 10 minutes or longer. That would be more of a time logistical
requirement.

[00:22:43.45] I need to do this project in Atlanta, Georgia. Maybe that's a requirement of the
project. I don't know. But there can be requirements or subgoals of the project.

[00:22:54.49] But don't get me wrong here. All projects have what? They have one singular goal.
What is the one big idea this project is going to solve, is going to accomplish, or opportunity it's
going to take hold of?

[00:23:09.22] So that's what we're going to check out. And I want you to really think about,
again, the projects you've done. What's the singular goal you're going for?

[00:23:15.50] Now, based on this project definition, a project goal should complete the requested
requirements of the project. Again, we have a singular project goal, but we have requirements
that the project still needs to line up to. We'll go into detail a little bit later in the class.

[00:23:29.89] Now, finally, a couple more here. We've got specific time. Every project is
temporary. With our definition, projects don't go on and on and on. Projects have limited times.
That means a project needs to have a beginning and an end.

[00:23:45.76] A very clear beginning-- this project will start on March 20, 2023. And it's going
to end on June 14, 2024. So very clearly we have these definitions. So we can start thinking
about our project in a parameters of what it means to be successful. We know our time frame.

[00:24:08.09] Now, this is different than what we call business operations. Business operations
would be, let's say, you come into a place of work. You start working at some place like Target.
Target may have business operations that happen regularly. They're just ongoing operations,
restocking the shelves, putting up marketing displays. These things just naturally happen. And
most of the time, they don't really have a time frame for them.

[00:24:36.79] We're not talking about those. We're talking about projects being very clear cut.
They have a beginning and an end. And when they're done, they're done.

[00:24:44.93] Now, they can be extended, or that end date can be modified. But don't get me
wrong. Projects are not endless. They must have clear-cut, defining boundaries.

[00:24:53.86] All right. If a project goes on and on, you do not clearly define what you want to
accomplish. That's a big problem. With project management, we need to know, what does it
mean to have a successful project?

[00:25:05.26] And the only way we can measure success is if we know the proper what?
Parameters, the time frame, the beginning and the end. And it's going to help us with our next
topic, which is what? Budget, the dollar bills, the Benjamins. All right.

[00:25:22.87] Projects are resource limited. They're not something we can just willy-nilly go
spend anything we want, use all the people we need, machines are endless. That's just not the
world we live in, right?

[00:25:35.89] Maybe you're doing a project for a company. Maybe you work right now, and
school is something you do when you come home. You know that resources are limited. We
don't have a lot to work with. And we have to compete for those resources for our project.

[00:25:49.73] So the same thing with a budget, every project needs to have a definition for what
it's going to take to get it done. That means financially, monetarily, fiscally, resource-wise. It
also includes personnel. And it talks about computers and machines, and all the technical aspects
that we're going to need, the resources we're going to need, to successfully complete this project.

[00:26:13.26] Now, how are you going to come up with a budget, though, if you don't know
when the project starts and when the project ends? It could go on and on and on. It'd be really
hard for you to figure out a budget. So we're going to talk about that in this class.

[00:26:23.55] Now, one thing I want to think about with our budget, in this class, is also, how
much are you worth when you're doing your skill or your craft or your trade? So maybe you're
there, and you've been an artist for years and years. And you want to start doing some freelance
work. And you say, hmm, how much am I really worth in an hourly rate? How much is my
computer worth?

[00:26:42.64] What are these things that I'm looking at on the PowerPoint that say variable
resources or variable cost or fixed resources? What does that all mean? It means that projects
require certain things that spend themselves, as we spend more, or that are locked, even if we
don't use them. Resources are variable and fixed.
[00:27:02.58] We're going to talk about all of that in this class. Don't worry. It's going to be
painless. I promise. Walk you all through it. It's going to be smooth.

[00:27:08.52] Maybe you say, hey, I'm not that good with numbers. Don't worry. I'm not either.
We'll go through this together. It's going to be awesome.

[00:27:14.52] So every project has what? Has a budget. So check that out.

[00:27:17.40] And the final one, the final one-- let's lean in, y'all. I know this is long. I'm just
trying to give us a little bit of depth here to sink our teeth into this project. What is the definition
of a project? The final part of this definition is "according to specification."

[00:27:32.64] You see we've got that example right here of that Xbox controller. That's a perfect
example. Let's say someone comes to you with a project, and they're like, hey, I want you to
build this video game. You need to make sure you build it for the proper specs.

[00:27:47.46] Maybe you build the whole game for PlayStation, and it turns out they requested it
for Xbox, and it's not compatible. Or maybe you build it for Android, and it was supposed to be
on iOS. It's not compatible.

[00:27:57.03] See, every project's going to have unique specifications that show what it means to
be a successful project. Maybe it's an animation, and you've got to make it at least two minutes
long or five minutes long to be a short, animation short. Maybe it's a feature film, and it's got to
capture a certain amount of the audience or the market to be successful at the box office. We
need to sell at least 10 million in sales to be-- that would be a specification. These things all
come up at the beginning of a project so we know what success looks like.

[00:28:26.35] So you would work with a client or a stakeholder or someone else who is working
alongside of you and has investment built into this project. And they can help you look at some
of these specifications or specifics for that deliverable. So how are you going to deliver the
project? Is it going to be on Vimeo, YouTube, Dropbox, Google? How are we going to do it,
Google Drive? What are those specifics?

[00:28:51.42] Huge and large amount of projects fail because they don't identify the specifics
early on. They just jump right in. And so that's something a project would take on is according to
spec.

[00:29:03.54] So let's break it down one more time. Now lean in here. You might want to take a
moment here if you need to just pause, and write this down. What is a project?

[00:29:11.65] A project is a sequence of activities. Notice how I jumped over those

characteristics. So the way I can kind of remember it, it's a sequence of activities, and those
activities are what?
[00:29:23.19] They are unique. They're complex. And they're connected. And all of these
activities that are sequenced have one goal or purpose. And that must be completed by a specific
time, within budget, and according to specification.

[00:29:40.14] All right. We've gone over a lot. That's a big definition. It's meaty. I know. There's
a lot there. You're just like, wow. OK. I've got to memorize all that.

[00:29:49.62] But let me throw something out to you. Is there anything missing? It's a long
definition. You're like, Tim, that's the longest, most complex definition of a project. I thought I'd
been doing projects since I was five, and then you throw all that at me. And now I don't even
know. And you're asking me what's missing.

[00:30:04.17] What do you think? Look a little deeper. Is there anything missing, anything that
could lead to the project not working out or being successful? Hmm. It's tough. I know. Because
we're looking at it in a very technical manner. Like, we just broke that down for the last-- who
knows how long, right? Really detailed, and you're like, hmm.

[00:30:24.29] Let's go a little higher-level though. So over the years, probably about 50 years,
projects have been done in the area of computer science, computer engineering. I'm talking about
back into the '50s, the '40s even before that, '60s. And there was this birth of this industry called
computer science. Maybe some of you are computer scientists or majoring in Computer Science,
CS, or working on some-- a minors, or you'd like to program.

[00:30:51.47] That industry, uniquely enough, was borne out of the advent of this kind of 1940s,
1950s military elements with the internet. And now, all of a sudden, you've got code. And they're
starting to write and type these things out, and coming up with languages. And there wasn't
actually a profession called computer science. So they actually looked to computer engineers,
traditional engineers-- structural, electrical, those kind of things-- to help with this new area of
computer science and coding and programming.

[00:31:26.25] Now, the engineers have managed projects for years in a very linear fashion.
Linear, what does that mean? Think of it like connected.

[00:31:37.13] Like, we start at A. We go to B. We go to C. We go to D. We go to E. They're

very progress-oriented, next task, next task, go forward.

[00:31:45.23] So then jump to about the '50s, '60s, '70s, and then up to the '90s. People started
programming and building applications using these very linear project management styles. How
does this all relate to, Tim?

[00:31:59.28] All right. Let's imagine someone comes to you, and they say, hey, I'd love you to
build this phone app. Can you build it for me? You say, great. I got it. Tell me everything you
want.

[00:32:08.25] All right. I want this, this, this, very detailed. I know exactly what I want in this
app, all these things. So what do I do? I take the next two years, and I build out the best Twitter-
like TikTok app ever. It's got all of these cool new features. It's everything that the client said
they wanted.

[00:32:30.48] They gave me a timeline. We took out the budget, specifications. They were
unique, complex, connected activities. It was everything the definition said it should be. That
was the project.

[00:32:42.48] Two years goes by though. I complete it. I hand it to the client. They say, yeah, I
know you gave us everything we said we wanted. But it turns out, it's not really giving us the
results we wanted.

[00:32:59.16] And I say, what do you mean the results? That's so vague. How do I know what
complete is, the results? And they say, yeah, it's just missing something.

[00:33:05.21] And it turns out what they were missing, because it took two years to build this, by
the way-- things change over two years. It turns out what was missing was, the project manager
took them at their word when they said, I want this, this, this, this, this, very detailed and
specific. They thought they knew everything they wanted. Turns out, they didn't know what they
really needed. And what was missing is value.

[00:33:28.20] So what I'd like to propose to you all in project management is, we have a first
version of that definition. We just went through it a couple moments ago, very detailed. But I
want us to go a little deeper now as project managers.

[00:33:39.93] Let's say you have a project. I want you to go to your client, or maybe it's to
yourself. You're doing a project right now. I want you to inherently look at, what is the value I'm
looking for this project to deliver, not just specifically the detailed things. The big idea is, I want
to build a game that does this, this, this. What's the purpose of the game?

[00:34:02.13] Maybe for your company, the game is, I need my brand to grow. I need people-- I
need 50,000 users to like me on the app store to get my ratings up. OK. By going a little deeper,
we found the business value actually behind this project.

[00:34:16.90] So the problem in the goal-- we need to go deeper and look at the business value.
So let me propose this new business-focused definition of a project. Again, this goes along with
the book. So check out the book. This will help you.

[00:34:28.32] But over the years, what they've found is they're missing business value. So here's
a business value-focused definition of a project. It's a little loose. It's a little more vague. But I
think you're getting the point of what I'm trying to go for here.

[00:34:40.74] A project is a sequence of finite dependent activities whose successful completion

results in the delivery of the expected business value that is validated doing the project. It's
validated by doing the project. OK. So what does that mean?
[00:35:00.85] That means when we do a project, we're going to be looking for the value. When a
client comes to you, or a stakeholder somebody comes to you to do a project, figuring out all the
little details they want is great. But what we want to find is, the first thing, what's the business
value behind this?

[00:35:18.07] So for this class, our goal again, project management-- what is a project? We can
throw it in a lot of different avenues and different venues, like as a hobbyist, as a class project.
For this class, we're going to be talking about it in the context of the professional industry of
project management, which means you're going to be working with a lot of stakeholders,
partners, collaborators, and so it's really clear to get down under the things that they say at top to
figure out what is the real inherent value they're looking for. When we find that business-driven
value, it's going to help us get successful results. I hope all that makes sense.

[00:35:58.09] So what did we talk about today? Today, we talked a little bit about what is a
project. We broke down that definition of sequenced activities that are unique, that are complex,
that are connected.

[00:36:09.03] And each of those has certain elements and attributes that need to be aligned with
a budget, time, and specifications that all point to what? The one goal. But we realize there needs
to be a little bit more than that. We need to look at the inherent business value that's behind this
project so that as project managers we can start thinking about, hmm, how are we really going to
make sure that this project leads to a successful completion?

[00:36:35.74] So that's pretty much all I've got for you today. I hope this helps. If you need a
refresher, feel free to watch this video again, go through the book, and use the supplemental
resources. All right, everybody. I'll talk to you soon. See you in the next video.

[00:36:47.28] [MUSIC PLAYING]