PRINCE2 principles
The seven principles
The principles are the universal, enduring obligations of a PRINCE2 project: continued business justification, learn from experience, defined roles and responsibilities, manage by stages, manage by exception, focus on products, and tailor to the environment. They are the reason PRINCE2 works, and they are what makes an approach 'PRINCE2'.
They are universal (they apply to every project, whatever its size, type or delivery approach), self-validating (proven in practice over decades) and empowering (they give people confidence to shape the method).
Applying them in practice
Each principle has a visible consequence. Continued business justification means a viable business case that is reviewed and updated at stage boundaries and whenever a significant issue arises. Learn from experience means lessons are sought at the start, recorded in the lessons log, and acted on - not just collected at the end. Manage by exception means tolerances are set so that only exceptions escalate. Focus on products means the plan is product-based and quality is defined against product descriptions.
Traps: questions suggesting principles may be selected ('apply at least five'), reduced or tailored away. Principles are not tailored - only the practices and processes are adapted to the environment. Another trap is claiming lessons are captured only at closure, or that the business case is written once and never revisited.
Worked example: a project with no approved business case, or one whose business case is never re-checked, fails continued business justification - so it is not being run according to PRINCE2, however many documents it produces.