Joi di Stefano has published an excellent article about project management on A List Apart entitled The Problem, the Balloon, and the Four Bedroom House. He argues that, whilst PM discipline and scope management are vital to success, we should not lose sight of their raisons d'etre:

"Many project managers believe a project has a beginning and an end. What they forget is the emotional core of a project: Why does this project exist? How will it make users more efficient, effective, and happy?"

This is an important argument, which he illustrates with some entertaiining examples.

I am not exactly well known as a respecter of scope, but I have learned some important lessons over the years that have taught me why this is important and I also have enough respect for the process of our developers to know why this matters. Among our clients and partners are those who are obsessed with process and those who regard it as not their problem (but who are the first to complain when the process does not deliver). In each case, managing scope and process must take into account their individual foibles and preferred ways of working, whilst maintaining a sufficient level of process to minimise risk.

Whilst I will happily absorb scope and process change at the last minute in many cases to achieve what I believe will be a better result, there are certain projects where this just won't do. For example, a good stir fry is 90% preparation and 10% cooking. I would never start cooking such a meal without a clear plan and a pre-prepared set of ingredients - to do so would be to invite disaster. Sticking with the subject of culinary activity, I am about to project manage the design and build of a new kitchen in my house. Because this is an initiative outside my core competencies, and one in which I depend entirely on the skill of those implementing the jobn on my behalf, my desire for process and planning is a necessary protection against scope creep and budget overrun.

These two kitchen-related examples - a quick project where preparation is everything and a major project that requires skills I don't possess and work I cannot complete myself - help me understand why it is important to stick to an agreed process with clients even where they think it is unnecessary.