There is a quote I use when training for years on Project Management around the human factor in the difference between doing Project Management well or poorly. It identifies to me the utmost importance for the art of project management and how fine a line that is to be successful.

It says –

“Plain and Simple, project management is an operational practice; the means to an end. Practiced well, it leads to value; practiced poorly it does virtually nothing except give itself a bad name.

This raises the issue of the human factor. Project Management is nothing more than a construct with methods and practices that support it (Science). The difference between doing it well and doing it poorly therefore must lie with the practitioners, those who manage the practitioners, and the organization support provided to project management within the organization. Were this not true, every organization that practices project management would realize similar benefits. We know this is not the case”

Recognizing that I would say that project management is considered to be 80% art and 20% science. Project fail or succeed because of people, not because of technology, tools, or techniques. Projects are really technical opportunities or problems with human dimensions.