Project Management Takes Too Long!

This is a lament I have often heard from clients (mostly internal ones). My favorite instance of this syndrome was during a period a couple of years ago when I worked for a moderately sized corporation in South Florida.

The VP of 'stuff' in the Admissions department and I were chatting in her office (this was an online university) about the ongoing projects. I say 'stuff' because this company had a lot of VPs and I can't recall her exact title, no belittling of her or her work is meant. At any rate, we finished our review and seemingly out of the blue (in fact I was being buttered up) she started singing my praises. She went on (at length) about how I was the best PM there and she always requested me... but (you knew that was coming) "why can't we skip all this project management stuff and just get the work done"

So there you have it, I do great work, except when I do great work. Seriously though, I was pretty amazed by that disconnect. I could not understand how she didn't make the connection between my commitment (and practice) of project management methods/processes and the results that I delivered. It showed a personal lack of understanding on her part, but it made it clear to me that since she was an intelligent person there was a greater issue.

Had I managed my projects in secret, afraid to give my stakeholders a view on the complex world of project management for fear they would see no value in it? Are we (professionals) so results driven that even when we get our deliverables on time, budget and to spec we don't realize (or care to) the fact that these deliverables did not materialize out of thin air?

In that case I think I decided politics (a whole other topic) and other issues were to blame, but on thinking further I do wonder if the general opinion of those who work with PMs is that project management gets in the way of getting the work done?

No answers today, but you might be relieved to know that a Google search titled 'project management takes too long' didn't deliver any relevant results. Good news, or did I not write my search correctly?