A useful construct in our work is to conceive of and plan work as sets of projects. Just as work groups and team production have become commonplace in the business environment, we have found that it is highly productive to approach much of our work in the form of projects.

In a project environment, roles of participants can be molded according to the particular constraints and needs of the work at hand. Unencumbered by the assumption that traditional roles and the traditional management hierarchy will dominate the work process, the project team can focus on the objectives, functional requirements, design constraints and work roles that will best achieve a useful result.

This approach to work is a pervasive theme in our programs. In our enterprise-based learning company designs, for example, students may take on different roles in different projects, based on their readiness to engage and based on the needs of the enterprise to produce authentic products. This gives entering students an opportunity to engage in projects early on, instead of being led through a long preparatory period before they can participate in authentic work, and still allows students with greater experience and work skills to perform up to their full potential by taking on more demanding roles.

Thus while students gain learning, they also gain workplace experience. By being drawn into projects, they gain a sense of their own potential value as a worker, and over time they build the confidence to envision becoming a highly-skilled, successful employee in the workforce.

In our work with adults, the design is equally compelling. Workers naturally seek opportunities to be involved in projects when they see the potential to put their own skills, understanding and ideas to work. Moreover, the sense of risk inherent in project-based work is often considerably less than that in a traditional work environment. By setting boundaries around projects and allowing workers to engage within those boundaries, we allow them the safety and freedom to investigate new ways of approaching work without threatening their sense of the familiar or their perception of security in their job.