The chimpanzees' tea party: a new metaphor for project managers

This paper addresses the problem of information technology systems failure. It is argued that conventional approaches to project management assume that success depends upon imposing control. This paper invokes a novel metaphor, namely the chimpanzees' tea party, for highlighting the limits of this assumption and showing how control-based approaches to project management can be counterproductive. Paradoxically, situations may arise where projects can be more effectively controlled by not attempting to impose control.