Have you come across NUPP - the Near Universal Principles of Projects?

Have you come across NUPP - the Near Universal Principles of Projects? If you’re interested, you can find NUPP here: https://nupp.guide/

It’s a collection of principles, that should be nearly universal to all projects. The authors propose that when in the weeds, these principles are often forgotten and simply making decisions in line with these principles will lead to better project outcomes.

I like the idea of principles

On the face of it, defining a set of principles to manage projects by is something that I have an affinity with. I believe I am principled and therefore this approach sits well with me.

It’s trying to be method agnostic. It doesn’t matter if you’re agile or waterfall, PRINCE2 or PMBOK, the principles still stand. Again, this sits well. I can get on board with an approach that says there are some universal truths of projects regardless of delivery methodology.

There are only 6 principles. I like the brevity too.

So why don’t I like NUPP?

The principles seem too far abstracted to be relevant in every day decision making. That may be a compromise that is inevitable if you’re trying to create universal principles. But it may also be a compromise that limits their usefulness.

Let’s take an example.

Principle 2 says “Preserve and optimise energy and resources”. An example that they give, is that it is often possible to achieve 80% of the benefits with 20% of the effort and this is preferable to achieving 100% of the benefit at 5x the effort. I accept there are situations where this is true. Because these are labelled as “nearly universal principles” the authors have a caveat for the situations where this is not true. But that isn’t my issue.

“Preserve and optimise energy and resources” is one hell of a leap to “only deliver 80% of the benefits”. Sure, when the link is explained, I get it. But I’m not convinced that being aware of the principle would have led me to act this way. If the principles are to help us make better decisions, to lead to better project outcomes, I’m not sure the principle does that. It’s too abstracted.

So what principles should we use to manage projects?

If the idea of principles is good, but these principles don’t quite hit the mark, then what are the right set of principles to manage a project by? Can they be universal? Or nearly universal?

I realise at this point, having pulled apart NUPP and stated that I think it’s too abstracted, the right thing to do is to offer an alternative set of principles that may work. But I don’t have them.

As soon as I start thinking about principles, I realise how hard this is.

I’ve got one to start the conversation. I’d love to hear what you would add to the list. What are the principles you live by when delivering your projects?

For me, my first is that I believe that all work done on a project should align to an outcome the project cares about. If the work doesn’t align to an outcome, the project should not be doing that work.

What principles do you live by when managing your projects?