The presentation introduces to the relationship between complexity theory principles and projects. A link to complexity theory is fundamental to understand some conditions which can lead more projects to success. This relationship is further exploited in the book "Projects and Complexity", http://www.projectsandcomplexity.org

1. 26th IPMA World Congress, Crete, Greece, 2012
PROJECTS AND COMPLEXITY
Edited by Francesco Varanini, Walter Ginevri
presented by
Livio Paradiso, co-author
Francesco Varanini, Independent Strategy Consultant, Digital Humanities Prof., Ethnographer, Writer
Walter Ginevri, PMP, PgMP, Senior Consultant and Trainer, President of PMI NIC
Diego Centanni, PMP, Project Manager Construction, Rotarian, Entrepreneur
Livio Paradiso, PMP, Manager of Project Managers

2. SUMMARY
• Research group and aim
• Tags
• Highlights
• Working Tools

3. WORKING GROUP
16 Leaders from academic, military and business worlds.
Francesco Varanini
(Ethnographer)
Alberto Felice De Toni Fernando Giancotti
(Prof. of Complex Systems) (Major General)
Luca Comello Gianluca Bocchi
(Project Office Manager) (Philosopher)
Carlo Notari VISION
Diego Centanni
(Past President PMI-NIC) To combine the Complexity (Project Manager)
Science with a Humanistic
Livio Paradiso approach Stefano Morpurgo
(Manager of PMs) (PM Consultant)
to investigate a
Michela Ruffa complimentary way of Mariu Moresco
(Sr. Project Manager) thinking about projects. (High School Teacher)
Bice Dellarciprete Andrea Pinnola
(Proposal Manager) (Sr. Project Manager)
Bruna Bergami Roberto Villa
(Program Manager) (Managing Consultant)
Walter Ginevri
(Sr. Consultant and Trainer)

4. WHY TO LOOK AT A COMPLIMENTARY PROJECT POINT OF VIEW
From professional experience came some fact and hints
• Some projects experience high change management rate over time,
continuous re-scoping and re-planning. Traditional project management
tools and methodologies increases re-planning and re-scoping costs.
• Some useful techniques and tools exists to address some of the
complexity issues, but without a deep problem understanding: Agile,
Extreeme Programming, rolling wave planning, …
• Complexity management is nowadays a general management issue
• A complimentary way of thinking at projects can be both interesting and
useful: as those problems arose from complexity issues,
• We started from complexity theory looking for relations with projects

5. COMPLEXITY AS MULTI-DISCIPLINARY SCIENCE
• C. Langton: «A complex looks for looksedge the
A project system the for of
chaos, ofi.e. a state which is which in dynamic
edge chaos, i.e. a state both is both in
Manfred Eigen
(Chemistry) equilibrium and never-ending change between
dynamic equilibrium and never-ending change
order andorder and disorder».
between disorder».
Ilya Prigogine
(Thermodynamics) • J. Holland: «A Co-evolution is awhich develops
Holland: « project is a dance dance which
through a subtlea game of competition and
develops through subtle game of competition
cooperation, creation and reciprocal adaptation».
and cooperation, creation and reciprocal
Isabelle Stengers adaptation».
(Philosophy)
• H.R. Maturana, F.J. Varela: «A project is not a
• H.R. Maturana, F.J. Varela: «Knowledge is own,
representation of a world which exists on its not a
but rather a continuous creation of a world». own,
representation of a world which exists on its
Edgar Morin but rather a continuous creation of a world».
(Sociology)
Murray Gell-Mann
(Physics)

6. TAGS (AS POSSIBLE NODE POINTS IN OUR JOURNEY)
Chronos vs Kairos, Biology, Humanistic perspective, Psychology, Ethnography,
Evolution, The project as testimonies, Storytelling, Philosophy, Behavioral Science,
Informal network analysis, Culture of projects, Self discovery, Traveling, Philosophy of
projects, Space of possibilities, Viewpoints, The project as a Journey, Distributed leadership,
Principle of Hiding Hand, Emerging, Innovation, Perception of reality, Redundancy in
nature, Time, Systemic, Stakeholders, Curiosity for the unknown, Complementary,
Multidisciplinary approach, Sociological approach, Cognitive perspective, Tower of Pisa,
Cones of Lights, Project Ethics, Convergence, Presence, Experience, Governance.

7. HIGHLIGHTS
• The Project as a journey
– The Pisa Tower project
– The “Principle of the hiding hand”
– Kronos vs. Kairos: the proper time for decision
making
• The Project and the new organizational models
• The Project as a complex system

8. HIGHLIGHTS (CONT.)
• 7 Principles of Complexity explored
from the Project Management perspective
• Project Management Tools,
a complementary map for Project Managers

9. COMPLEXITY THEORY and OUR FINDINGS
Authors explore seven principle of complexity theory and apply them to Project Management
COMPLEXITY THEORY FINDINGS WORKING GROUP FINDINGS
1. Self-organization 1. Stakeholders’ worlds
2. Edge of chaos 2. Project beyond WBS
3. Hologramatic principles 3. The propitious time
4. Impossibility of prediction 4. Collective leadership
5. Power of connections 5. Narrating and believing
6. Circular causality 6. Risk vs complexity
7. Try & learn 7. Value of redundancy

10. THE 7 PRINCIPLES MAPPED ON OUR FINDINGS
The propitious
Stakeholders’
Narrating and
beyond WBS
redundancy
complexity
Reseach topics
leadership
Collective
believing
Value of
Risk vs
Project
worlds
time
 Complexity principles
1. Auto-organization þ þ þ
2. Edge of chaos þ þ þ
3. Hologramatic principle þ þ
4. Impossibility of prediction þ þ þ
5. Power of connections þ þ þ
6. Circular causality þ þ
7. Try&learn þ þ

11. PROJECT MANAGEMENT STANDARDS and OUR FINDINGS
Authors explore a systemic and organic approach to projects that widens the scope of the project
manager’s role as well as the tools and the capabilities required.
Monitoring
and Controlling
Planning Project
Building
Initiating Closing
Project
Driving
Executing
PROJECT MANAGEMENT STANDARDS
PROJECT MANAGEMENT STANDARDS
1. Project Charter
1. Project Manifesto
2. Stakeholder Register
2. Informal Network
3. Work Breakdown Structure
3. Project Systemic Map
4. Issue Log / Change Log
4. Emergences Diagram / SoD
5. Project status report
5. Space of domains
6. Lessons Learned
6. Project Tales
Project Management and Complexity: a new field to explore for better performances

12. GOING INTO SOME DETAILS: PROJECT SYSTEMIC MAP
Project Systemic map is the key tool to map the evolution of project scope and events occurring in
the project environment during the entire project lifecycle
PROJECT SYSTEMIC MAP
1. Can contain WBS elements
2. Elements are linked by
relations and not by hierarchy
3. Contains elements of
stakeholder analysis
4. Contains environmental
variables set as elements
5. All elements are time-stamped
and integrated with a status
setting the relevance of the
element at the time the project
is flowing
Does a tool implementing those
functions exist? To our konwledge
not yet, although some tools can
help building a PSM (like mind
mapping associated with timestamps
and relevance indicatora)
Project Management and Complexity: a new field to explore for better performances

13. A POSSIBLE FUTURE OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• The evolution of Project Management
– Enlarging the scope of project management to better take into
account the environment surrounding the project.
– “Humanistic Project Management”, focused on strong
integration of different disciplines.
• The evolution of the Project Manager
– Project Manager more as an integrator than as a specialist.
– Project Manager as a key actor in decision making process
– Project Manager as“Manager of the Future”.

14. PROJECTS AND COMPLEXITY
www.projectsandcomplexity.org
“Projects and Complexity”, published by Taylor & Francis in May 2012.

15. Thank you.
Please come to see us at the
MEET THE AUTHOR
special session
LE
Livio Paradiso
B.U. Executive
Provisioning & Operations
Project Manager Coordinator
I M I
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