Project Management Impresarios

    I've been watching (and even helping out with advice) on several projects close up in the past weeks. They have "issues" as all projects do. But one thing that strikes me in these cases as well as a side bar discussion with a project management impresario is there is a lot of professional amateurs out there. Those claiming to have "magic beans," when in fact the beans are just beans.
    There are some simple questions a project manager should be asking everyday:

1. When will this project be done? And what's the confidence interval on that date?
2. How much will it cost? And what's the confidence interval on that value?
3. Do we all agree on what "done" looks like when we get there? And what are the units of measure of "done?"
4. What are the risks to getting done on time and on schedule?
5. How will we mitigate or retire these risks so we can get "done?" And do these activities have budget and schedule?

Now when that project management impresario starts talking psycho-babble about the theory of how projects "should" work in his "best selling" book - self actualized staff, acknowledging your blindness and topics best reserved for the marriage therapist office, there never seems to be a discussion about the 5 items above as prerequisites to a project's success?

1. We're self actualized - but late and over budget
2. We acknowledge the things we don't know about - but are late and over budget
3. We have great trust in each other and our vendors - but are late and over budget

    Not being late and over budget is necessary but not sufficient for project success. But the inverse makes no sense.  It's not a reciprocal relationship.
    Project Management is not Business Management.
    Project Management is not Personnel Management.
    Project Management is not ...

    Project Management is about managing projects. Yes there are people involved and people must be considered. But this focus on "people" cannot add value if we're late and over budget.
    Both are needed, but which one is more important? I have my choice. Others have theirs. The customer - from all my limited experience in the past 30 years - has been asking the 5 questions above before they ask about self-actualization and self-fulfillment. Just a data point, that's all.