The Historical Journey of Portfolio Management: A Remarkable Adventure

1950s-1970s: The Rise of 'Structured Chaos' 🧐  During this period, a bit like a scene from a black and white movie, we saw the birth of project structures. Methods such as PERT and CPM emerged, a kind of manuals for large projects such as space programs....

Although we didn't talk about "portfolio management" yet, they did lay the foundation. It was a time of optimism, where work stood for stability, but projects screamed for a new approach. If something went wrong? Well, then it was "the technology that didn't work yet"

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1970s-1990s: The Growing 'Rubik's Cube' 🤯  Technological advances led to increasingly complex projects. Companies like General Electric began experimenting with R&D portfolio thinking, a bit like a child trying to solve a Rubik's Cube without a manual…

Portfolio management remained somewhat of an abstract concept, especially outside the financial world. It was the time of 'work hard, play hard', but people were beginning to realise that resources had to be deployed more intelligently. Flexibility in work was still a long way off, but the seed for portfolio management had been planted.

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1990-2010: The 'Eureka!' Moment 💡  The 90s saw an explosion of methodologies to tackle failing projects. PRINCE2 and the PMBOK Guide came onto the scene as heroes and portfolio management finally came onto the map....

The Project Management Institute (PMI) played a crucial role in this. It was a period when organizations realized that it was not just about 'doing things right' but especially about 'doing the right things'. The dotcom boom gave companies an "anything goes" mentality, which often crashed due to a lack of strategy.... Portfolio management started to become popular as a means to tame the chaos, a bit like companies going on a blind date with their projects.

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2010-2020: The Transformation to 'Strategic Thinking' 🎯  Portfolio management evolved into a strategic discipline focused on goals and social impact....

Companies like Ruysdael emphasized the importance of sustainable innovation. It was a time when work had to be more than just a job; it had to be meaningful and contribute to society and the environment. It was as if all the musicians of an orchestra could finally play a symphony together.

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2020-Present: The Sustainable 'Impact' Future 🌍

Portfolio management is now about more than financial profit; sustainability and technology play a key role....

Artificial intelligence enables companies to better predict project outcomes and adapt strategies more quickly....

The focus is on what you can contribute to a better world, more 'impact' than just putting in hours. It is an era in which work has not become an end in itself.

Portfolio management is still evolving and the journey is not over yet.