ABSTRACT
Managing a complex project is a higher-order management activity and should be treated and resourced accordingly. Project managers who manage these projects successfully are more like artists, selecting the most appropriate tools and approaches from their very large palettes and working with those tools to produce the colour, form and texture appropriate to the work in hand. Some tools and approaches have been found to be successful by other experienced practitioners working in various industries. It is important to stress however, that it is the purpose of the tool or approach which is more important than the actual tool itself. The intention is that each tool and the associated discussion provide its own insights to be adapted by practitioners as they wish. The art of project management is in selecting the right combination of tools at the right time to create the right methodology for the situation. However, methodology differs from theory and philosophy in that it contains practical guidelines.
