... missed a deadline. That is a foundation of project management no matter if it is paid or unpaid. ... it means someone (or group) is not capable of good project management.
I think this focus on project management is probably both unfair and misdirected.
First, it is unfair because very, very few organizations are really good at project management. A few organizations are really good at project management because they invest considerable resources in developing a strong project management organization, including people, data, processes, and culture. It is highly unreasonable to expect AMSAT to even be able to make this sort of investment, much less actually do it. A few organizations are good at project management because they do the same thing over and over with a stable, experienced crew. After you have built ten bridges, you have a pretty good idea how long it will take your crew to build the eleventh. AMSAT simply doesn't build enough satellites or, I believe, have enough depth in its development organization, to be able to either accurately estimate the resources required to build a satellite, or to reliably execute according to a realistic plan. And, a lot of organizations, in essence, cheat. They overestimate in hopes that hitting their schedule, Or, they throw more resources at the project that is behind in order to meet the schedule. Or, they reduce the scope of the project. Or, if they are government contractors, they keep negotiating changes-in-scope to their contract in order to pay for any cost overruns.
The truth is, development projects, by their very nature, are risky (in the sense that success is uncertain). In fact, most development projects fail -- but, we just don't hear about them.
I also believe that this focus on project management is misdirected. In my view, the focus should be on _development_ management, not project management. While the scope and authority of the project management function varies across organizations, in general, its job is to support the development management. And, I believe that AMSAT does need to substantially improve its management of development projects. But, that is obviously difficult, in part because successfully managing development projects requires skills that are often in shorter supply than those required to actually build a satellite. But, that is another long, topic...
By the way, someone else wrote:
... There is no such thing as "good project mamagement" in an all volunteer effort where all the critical work gets done by techincally skilled and motivated volunteers.
I don't believe that this is at all true. I do believe, however, that managing a volunteer development team is much more challenging.
And,
... The last thing we need is a bunch of clueless managers ...
Again, _good_ development management is rare. But, good development management significantly increases the chances of success. Of course, one the skills of a good development manager is managing technical people who consider all managers to be clueless.
-tjs