Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM); The Betamax or DVD of Project Management?

Remember when videotape first came out on the market? Sony had Betamax, but the VHS format took off and got a jump on the market. Betamax actually had better quality, but it didn't matter. Now DVDs have all but eliminated VHS. DVDs look here to stay for a while, although a high definition version will soon take its place.

Now let's look at Critical Chain. No doubt it has been proven to pay back in dividends in those organizations who have tried it. Arguably, it's a more effective method than the traditional critical path approach for improving throughput. But many haven't adopted it, for the same reason they resist disruptive technology. They won't change until they're backed into a corner and have no choice, or until everyone else uses it to achieve better results and they need to change to keep up.

So will Critical Chain become like Betamax and fizzle out, save for the purists that have already adopted it? Or will it slowly become recognized for its results and be adopted by a larger market? Will it become the DVD of project management, or will some totally new methodology that assimilates the best of Critical Chain and Critical Path become the de facto standard?

Hard to tell. It's a good sign that PMI recognizes Critical Chain as a legitimate project management alternative to Critical Path. Or maybe some PMThink reader will be inspired to devise something new that replaces both! The goal is to keep evolving and not remain stagnant. We all need to keep thinking.