Eddie Obeng’s book ‘New Rules for the New World’ puts forward the idea of 4 project types. The key point is that by understanding what kind of project you are leading, then appropriate skills, techniques, and expectations can be deployed.



Obeng uses an insightful thinking framework that compares the ‘what’ with the ‘how’. The diagram shows this.



Painting by numbers - when both the objectives and the how to do it are clear and well known. Formal project management techniques (for example PRINCE) concentrate on this area.



Quests - when the objective is known but how to go about is not. Many research projects can fit this description. Think of Thomas Edison’s famous remark “There’s a better way - find it”.



Movies - when the how is known, but the end-result is not yet clear. Think of the decorator turning up, but not having been told what the design is. Many arts projects start out this way.



Lost in the Fog - when neither the objective nor the solution is clear. This kind of project can be expressed as ‘something’s wrong, but I don’t know what.’