ABSTRACT
There is the question about how much domain knowledge you need to manage a project. There are those who say you cannot manage an information systems project unless you are an information systems professional. On the other hand, there are those who claim domain knowledge is not required. In response, Rodney Turner relates an incident that happened several years ago. He was at a meeting in the UK of an organization called the Major Projects Association. A partner from what was then Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) finished his presentation by saying that only information systems professionals can manage information systems projects, and it would be best if they were an android. Rodney was sat next to a man called Don Heath, a civil engineer, and then project director for a project called Crossrail, to build an East-West railway line under London. The project was then estimated to cost £2 billion. During the next coffee break Rodney asked Don how much of his project was information systems and Don said 10 percent, £200 million. In fact his project was 40 percent civil engineering (tunnels, foundations and railways), 30 percent mechanical engineering (new rolling stock), 20 percent electronics (automatic signaling) and 10 percent computers (driverless trains). As a civil engineer Don had to manage all of that, but of course had lieutenants working for him who had greater domain knowledge of the parts they were responsible for, and also a temperament and leadership style appropriate to that type of project. That of course is the answer; as your career develops, you become responsible for a wider and wider scope of work, and that requires you to develop new competencies – not new technical skills, but appropriate people management and strategic management
skills. But you will also have working for you domain specialists to lead the work in specific areas.
