The Real Problem Isn’t “Too Many Projects”

A contributor to the Harvard Business Review recently suggested that companies should focus on fewer projects to improve outcomes. We agree that organizations are stretched too thin, but the real problem isn’t volume. It’s definition. For many years, we’ve been bemoaning the fact that many companies call operational work or strategic initiatives “projects.” This mislabeling distorts portfolios, dilutes executive attention, and squanders scarce leadership resources. At Mavendog, we’ve seen this phenomenon again and again: what organizations treat (and staff) as projects are often just operations in disguise.

What a Project Actually Is

The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a project as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.” That definition is precise for a reason. Projects have three nonnegotiable characteristics:

  • Time bound: they have a finite start and end.
  • Finite in scope: they deliver a defined outcome.
  • Unique: they have never been done before, even if they resemble past efforts.

    If work repeats, it’s a process.
    If it has no end date, it’s operations.
    Calling either of those a project doesn’t just bend definitions, it undermines delivery discipline.

Where Companies Go Wrong

Executives often bundle strategic initiatives or continuous improvement programs into their “project” portfolio. Routine ERP enhancements, quarterly marketing campaigns, and client onboarding workflows are common examples. These are critical business activities, but they’re not projects. They are operations with playbooks, standard operating procedures, and repeatability. Treating them as projects misdirects resources meant for time sensitive, novel efforts, or—worse yet—they artificially inflate the “project management” headcount at the organization, wasting talent and payroll with poor job skills matching. 

Why Mislabeling Is Dangerous

The risks of misclassification are real:

  • Portfolio overload: When everything is a project, nothing is prioritized.
  • Governance waste: Project charters, stage-gates, and closure reports add overhead that continuous operations don’t need.
  • Talent misfit: Experienced project leaders get assigned to repetitive tasks when their value lies in guiding complex, finite change.
  • Strategic drift: True transformational work gets buried in a cluttered project list.

Here we agree with the HBR suggestion to restaff your best people to the most strategic projects. The skills and attitudes required for successful operations management differ greatly from those required in project management. With the explosive growth of the “gig economy,” we see more professionals who identify as “project delivery specialists” rejecting the talent mismatch and strategic drift endemic in corporations and choosing instead to work as independent consultants. You can read more about this in our series on the commoditization of project work.

Mavendog’s Perspective: Call Work What It Is

Clarity comes from naming work correctly:

  • Operations: Repeatable, measurable, and continuous. Best managed with Lean, automation, SOPs, and full time employees or long term staffing contractors.
  • Initiatives: Long horizon strategic themes. Provide vision and momentum but don’t follow a project lifecycle. Often supported by large consulting firms with large teams and pricetags.
  • Projects: Temporary, unique, and finite. Require disciplined delivery and dedicated leadership. Flexible and sometimes unpredictable, these are best served by fractional, elastic, independent project leaders who leave when the work is done.

Distinguishing between these categories isn’t semantics…it’s the foundation of effective portfolio management.

Proof in Practice

We see this distinction play out in client work every day:

  • Global Divestiture (true project): Mavendog managed IT carve‑outs, TSA planning, and finite handoffs with a clear start and finish.
  • ERP Deployment (true project): A $450M consolidation effort, unique in scope and execution.
  • Client onboarding (operations): Streamlined through SOPs and PMO playbooks, but not treated as projects.

When clients stop calling operations “projects,” their portfolios slim down and their true projects move faster.

The Payoff of Getting It Right

Getting definitions right delivers tangible benefits:

  • Sharper prioritization: Executives can actually focus on fewer, real projects.
  • Faster outcomes: Finite initiatives reach completion more often and without distraction.
  • Healthier operations: Continuous work is measured and improved without unnecessary overhead.
  • Better talent alignment: Project leaders apply their skills where they matter most: on unique, finite sprints.

Reductions in force and hiring freezes have an outsized impact on critical projects when those “true projects” are hidden in the sea of operations. Being specific about project definitions allows you to be surgical with your resourcing strategy, using the right talent acquisition strategy (hiring, staffing, consulting, or independent) for the right purpose.

Audit Your Portfolio

The problem isn’t “too many projects.” It’s too many imposters. Audit your portfolio. Projects are unique by nature and can be (or become) complex, unruly, or unexpected. They don’t always fit into neat, predictable buckets of time and effort, and the skills required to deliver them can vary and change. You need a resourcing strategy that can vary and change along with them.
Resist the traditional impulse to hire PMs and fall into the fixed-headcount trap. Identify what “projects” really are projects. Not roles or operational hires. You need an elastic talent portfolio tailored to your true project work, especially for your most critical investments. 

About Mavendog, LLC
Mavendog is a project leadership firm of independent program and project leaders who operate as Affiliates under the brand. The firm is a unique conduit to the American independent economy. Since 2017, Mavendog has been committed to helping clients with their project challenges, from complex IT portfolios and programs to tactical project needs. Today, Mavendog is a preferred consulting asset for managing and driving information technology and enterprise change initiatives. The company is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.