This is like the early 19th Century view of the universe as a watch, the same argument that everyone uses to justify the use of Excel for every task. If all you have is a hammer, then everything is a nail.
7 Project Management Trends to Watch, PMI, 6 August 20125. Every employee is a project manager
Project management means having a mindset of systematic planning, execution, monitoring, controlling and closure. Every task should be considered as a tiny project.
For example, writing a software code as part of a larger IT project should be considered a tiny project. Project management principles will be applied to successfully deliver the code on time and with high quality.
Creating this mindset across an organization requires cultural change. In many organizations currently, only a few people focus on project management. With the practice of considering every task as a tiny project, the need to have ‘self project management’ becomes prominent.
The best way to train employees to think like project managers is through on-the-job training. Teach employees to create mini-work breakdown structures, mini-schedule, self-reviews and corrective actions.
Not everyone is a project manager, some developers are just code monkeys, they might be great heads-down coders, but not have the capacity to keep all the balls of a project in the air. Seems like that’s why Alfred Sloan organized his workforce the way he did.