Laws of Project Management

As a project manager, I have started noticing certain rules or laws that apply more often in the real-world scenario. Several laws may apply depending on our experiences, although I am sharing here the 30 most important laws of project management which are widely useful in your day-to-day work.

1.??????Augustine’s Law: “A bad idea executed to perfection is still a bad idea.”

2.??????Lakein’s Law: “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

3.??????Saint Exupéry’s Law: “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

4.??????Fitzgerald’s Law: “There are two states to any large project: too early to tell and too late to stop.”

5.??????Parkinson’s First Law: “Work expands to fill the time available.”

6.??????Parkinson’s Second Law: Expenditures rise to meet income.

7.??????Constantine’s Law: “A fool with a tool is still a fool.”

8.??????Graham’s Law: “If they know nothing of what you are doing, they suspect you are doing nothing.”

9.??????Murphy’s Law: “If anything can go wrong, it will.”

10.??O’Brochta’s Law: “Project management is about applying common sense with uncommon discipline.”

11.??Kinser’s Law: “About the time you finish doing something, you know enough to start.”

12.??Carlson’s Law: "All interrupted work will be less effective and will take more time than if it was completed in a continuous manner."

13.??Illich’s Law (Law of Diminishing Returns): "Beyond a certain threshold, human efficiency decreases, even becoming negative."

14.??Laborit’s Law (The Law of the Least Effort): "We prefer to carry out tasks that give us immediate satisfaction."

15.??Hofstadter’s Law (Law of Schedule Slipping): "It always takes longer than expected, even taking into account Hofstadter’s Law."

16.??Kidlin's law: "If you write the problem down clearly, then the matter is half solved."

17.??Gilbert’s Law – “When you take on a task, finding the best way to achieve the desired result is always your responsibility."

18.??Wilson’s Law – “If you prioritize knowledge and talent, money will always come."

19.??Falkland’s Law – “If you don't have to make a decision about something, then don't decide.”

20.??Berra’s Law: "You can observe a lot just by watching."

21.??Epstein’s Law: "If you think the problem is bad now, just wait until we’ve solved it."

22.??Hendrickson’s Law: "If a problem causes many meetings, the meetings eventually become more important than the problem."

23.??Dobbins’ Law: "When in doubt, use a bigger hammer."

24.??McGovern’s Law: "The longer the title, the less important the job."

25.??Patton’s Law: A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.

26.??Terman’s Law of Innovation: "If you want a track team to win the high jump, you find one person who can jump seven feet, not seven people who can jump one foot."

27.??Wolf ’s Law of Management: "The tasks to do immediately are the minor ones; otherwise, you’ll forget them. The major ones are often better to defer. They usually need more time for reflection. Besides, if you forget them, they’ll remind you."

28.??Wolf ’s Law of Planning: "A good place to start from is where you are."

29.??Boren’s Laws of the Bureaucracy: "When in doubt, mumble; When in trouble, delegate; When in charge, ponder."

30.??Zimmerman’s Law of Complaints:?“Nobody notices when things go right.”

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