Project management between will and representation

This paper challenges some deep-rooted assumptions of project management. Inspired by the work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, it calls for looking at projects through two complementary lenses: one that accounts for cognitive and representational aspects and one that accounts for material and volitional aspects. Understanding the many ways in which these aspects transpire and interact in projects sheds new light on project organizations, as imperfect and fragile representations that chase a shifting nexus of intractable human, social, technical and material processes. This, in turn, can bring a new grasp of notions such as value, knowledge, complexity and risk.