Chaos in project management

1. One Size Does Not Fit All ...
And That’s a Good Thing
Bruce A Stewart • 30 April 2013
Bruce A Stewart
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2. If the situation is different, should the project be the same?
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3. • Project planning, especially in
the “idea to plan” phase,
depends on some stabilities.
• Many projects, however, involve
variant “truth” or don’t come
with repeatable conditions / use
cases / situations.
• Project management is about
flexing practices to achieve
outcomes.
Which domain?
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4. Looking at Reality
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5. Much more of the available project space requires different methods
than is first apparent!
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7. Simple
• Environments are always “in
motion” even in apparently
simple order.
• When simple order breaks
down, it’s like falling off a cliff
into chaos.
• Others expect project
managers to work using simple
order even when they don’t.
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8. Complicated
• Interdepartmental conflict often
throws apparently simple
domain projects into the
complicated domain.
• Seek “good enough”
outcomes: if the outcome must
remain complicated it can’t be
rigid.
• Go to the complex domain to
test alternatives.
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9. Complex
• Goal is multiple safe-to-fail
experiments. Even failures
advance the overall project.
• Must be managed at a higher
level than the activities. This is
agility as opposed to AGILE.
• Complex domain requires
“blessing of order” before
stabilizing into the simple.
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10. How best to proceed depends on where you are
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11. Steering mechanisms should differ depending on what domain is in
play. Permanent mechanisms should reflect the size of the mix.
Sponsor
Steering
Committee
Governance
Board
Sponsor
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12. People, Organizations, Demands
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13. Putting it All Together
• Plans are only as trustworthy as their match to reality. Set expectations
accordingly.
• Project management appears to be a function of simple order, but it’s not. It’s
a function of the complex domain (i.e. inherently less ordered).
• Getting the right steering mechanism is crucial especially on large-scale
endeavours.
• What matters is progress, but its form changes as the domains change.
• Perhaps leadership should transition to take advantage of personal style and
domain you’re now in?
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14. Contact Bruce Stewart
bruce.stewart@bastewart.com
www.linkedin.com/in/bastewart
@brucestewart
+1 (416) 347-7809
personalduediligence.com
blogidol.ca
Bruce A Stewart
Executive Advisor
Columnist
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