The Gloomy side of projects: when working on a project jeopardizes individuals and groups
Résumé
In writings on management, projects represent the myth of fortune smiling… Invest in your job! Find self-fulfillment through involvement in the project! But does a project not also destroy meaning, destabilize personnel and convey the germs of new pathologies? In companies, projects are machines for making requirements and judging people. No doubt, there is a gloomy side to projects, as shown by this analysis of verbatim accounts from participants in projects and a review of the scant managerial writings on this topic. For working conditions to worsen in direct proportion to an increase in the stimulation to outdo oneself through involvement in a company project, something must have gone awry in the realm of human resources — at the very heart of capitalism.