Life is a Project: Project Management as an Enabling Life Skill

Neil C. Robinson, PMP, PRINCE2 Practitioner, CELTA, MACS
2017 EMEA Recipient

To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure" (Stark, 2011, p.11). Individuals make cross-cultural transitions to new locations for many reasons. Like British travel writer, Freya Stark, they may be motivated by a desire for adventure and discovery. Others undertake these transitions as longer-term sojourns or migration for a variety of economic, political, social and environmental motivations (Dontsov & Zotova, 2013). In all cases, these transitions present the newcomer with practical and social challenges. This paper introduces the concept of teaching basic project management skills as a useful tool for empowering newcomers with greater capability to define, plan and achieve personal objectives in a culturally challenging environment.