The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Project Business

Project Business Management

SERIES ARTICLE

By Oliver F. Lehmann

Munich, Germany

“If even an extremely simple arrangement like the three-body system is unpredictable chaos,
how can we have any faith in discovering the laws of the complicated universe?”
― Liu Cixin, The Three-Body Problem (novel)^[1]

Summary

This article examines the instability of three-party project setups – like customer, contractor, and subcontractor – using metaphors from physics and cinema, including the three-body problem and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It shows how such arrangements often lead to unpredictable outcomes due to conflicting goals, hidden agendas, and poor communication. Real-world examples, including the Gorch Fock refit and a corporate PMO case, highlight how misalignment and lack of trust can derail projects. The solution, the article argues, lies in empathy – not as a soft skill, but as a core professional capability to understand all parties and guide projects back to stability.

What is Project Business?

Project Business begins where internal project management ends – at the boundary between organizations. It occurs when two or more companies collaborate to deliver a project, typically under contract and form cross-corporate networks, some of them simple, others with high complexity. While internal projects within a single enterprise can already be demanding, the stakes and challenges rise sharply when the project cuts across corporate, legal, and cultural borders.

In such settings, traditional project management tools are no longer enough. Success now hinges on commercial acumen, contractual clarity, and the ability to build trust between parties with different goals, business models, and power positions. Risks multiply – not just technical or scheduling risks, but risks to cash flow, reputation, and legal standing.^[2]

The professionalism required in Project Business must go beyond planning, execution, monitoring, and controlling. It must extend into negotiation, empathy, and resilience. Understanding the business interests and limitations of contract parties – customers, prime contractors, and subcontractors – becomes essential. Where interests collide, and information is asymmetrical, the project manager must navigate not only complexity but potential conflict.

The task is to turn contract parties into project partners.

This article explores the dynamics of a specific form of cross-corporate relationships, drawing on metaphors from classical physics and cinema to shed light on the unpredictable – and at times volatile – nature of multi-party project situations.

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Editor’s note: This series of articles is by Oliver Lehmann, author of the book “Project Business Management” (ISBN 9781138197503), published by Auerbach / Taylor & Francis in 2018. See author profile below.

How to cite this article: Lehmann, O. (2025). The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Project Business, series article, PM World Journal. Vol. XIV, Issue VI, June. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pmwj153-Jun2025-Lehmann-The-Good-Bad-Ugly-in-Project-Business.pdf

About the Author

Oliver F. Lehmann

Munich, Germany

Oliver F. Lehmann, MSc, ACE, PMP, is a project management educator, author, consultant, and speaker. In addition, he is the owner of the website Project Business Foundation, a non-profit initiative for professionals and organizations involved in cross-corporate project business.

He studied Linguistics, Literature, and History at the University of Stuttgart and Project Management at the University of Liverpool, UK, where he holds a Master of Science Degree (with Merit). Oliver has trained thousands of project managers in Europe, the USA, and Asia in methodological project management, focusing on certification preparation. In addition, he is a visiting lecturer at the Technical University of Munich.

He has been a member and volunteer at PMI, the Project Management Institute, since 1998 and served as the President of the PMI Southern Germany Chapter from 2013 to 2018. Between 2004 and 2006, he contributed to PMI’s PM Network magazine, for which he provided a monthly editorial on page 1 called “Launch,” analyzing troubled projects around the world.

Oliver believes in three driving forces for personal improvement in project management: formal learning, experience, and observations. He resides in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, and can be contacted at oliver@oliverlehmann.com.

Oliver Lehmann is the author of the books:

“Situational Project Management: The Dynamics of Success and Failure” (ISBN 9781498722612), published by Auerbach / Taylor & Francis in 2016
“Project Business Management” (ISBN 9781138197503), published by Auerbach / Taylor & Francis in 2018.

His previous articles and papers for PM World Journal can be found here: