Project management tools seem to be available everywhere. Some are free devices to keep a record of daily tasks. Others are expensive solutions for major corporations to manage high-budget programs. Some are specific to certain industries while others are customizable to manage any type of work. Despite the variety, what is common between all of these is that some people assume the tools alone will manage their projects on autopilot.

But, tools are nothing without a good project manager. Even then, a good project manager with the best tools can make mistakes. In my opinion, the best project managers are those that know where and where not to go with those tools they may or may not have. Or, in other words, a good project manager knows that a tool only reinforces a skill – it doesn’t reveal some secret, previously inaccessible, paved road to a project’s success.

I think that today’s confusion about project management software is due to thinking that the term "tool" and the term "path" are synonymous. Let me explain this with examples below.

A car is a tool, and the road it drives on is the car’s path. When you buy a car, you have access to nearly unlimited combinations of roadways and destinations. However, you have not actually purchased the roadways and destinations – just the car. This may seem an obvious observation, but some people confuse this. I remember when I was a teenager, just learning to drive. I thought that once I got a license and a vehicle, I would be free to go anywhere at anytime. When I finally turned sixteen, I quickly realized that I wouldn’t get very far with a twenty year old suburban that got eight miles to the gallon.

Some businesses think the same way about project management software. They forget that the software is a tool to be equipped – it’s not project results itself. Again, this may seem like a no-brain, but it happens all the time. When a project is proposed - say, for example, a new product display at an industry-specific show - there are steps to be made to get there. Marketing, design, sales force, finance, and even such things as hotel arrangements must be taken into account. Although project management software can help focus a marketing team, distribute design work, allocate costs, and provide quick contact to human resources, the project doesn’t just complete itself. Sometimes companies can get too excited about being signed up for a major event while forgetting to actually bring the "gas money."

I hope I have made it clear that owning the tool is not the same as owning the path. However, this is not to say that tools can’t "pave" new paths. Most major interstates, before ever being layered with asphalt, streetlamps, road signs, and highway patrolmen, were once mere dirt roads, originally traveled by foot, horse, or wagon. When a new company plans to make products or offer services that the market has not previously seen, project management processes will be undefined for that specific new industry. The project scope might be far off-road in rough country and whether the destination will be met or not is uncertain. So, you better hope your vehicle has four-wheel-drive.