All great plans, projects, and adventures generally start with a vision. A problem or opportunity has presented itself and something should be done about it. Whether it is to increase revenue for a company, paint a wall in your home, or purchase a new car, it begins with a vision.

This vision may be well defined and focused or may be very broad. It is the beginning of the project process. An advancement of project management is that the profession now understands that the vision can be broad. The vision of the project can be progressively elaborated as the project is better understood. One of the greatest examples of vision becoming reality through progressive elaboration was the statement made by John F. Kennedy in a speech to the nation on May 25, 1961. He said, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” This was both a broad vision and a focused one. He outlined what the project would accomplish, but there were a lot of people that were charged with how to do it. Each project that was undertaken under this vision fed other projects, and the vision became progressively elaborated into a completed goal. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon. Shortly thereafter, the astronauts returned home safely. John F. Kennedy laid out the vision. The project managers brought the vision to a reality. The ability for a project manager to understand, articulate, and focus on the vision is the first step to running a great project.