This Guest paper, from which the following abstract has been drawn, was submitted for publication in November 2019, Part 2 published here March 2021.
It is copyright to Dr. Philip Crosby, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science.

PART 1 | Risk and Contingency | Project Environment | Mission Assurance
Brief Qualitative Assessment | Conclusions and Discussion | Summary

Summary

This paper has drawn together and deepened knowledge of how large high-tech projects may be conditioned (beyond a priori mechanistic attributes) to improve response in the face of inevitable setbacks and unexpected events. The new insights drawn have value for early stage mega-project planners to improved conditions for achieving project success. Recent literature was examined, complemented by relevant field casework.

Nine resilience factors were grouped as:

(a)  Attitudinal

  • Realistic, fact based
  • A lessons-learned culture
  • Ambiguity/uncertainty tolerant

(b)  Conditioning

  • Mission and success clearly defined
  • Clear reporting and decision structures
  • Strong information control
  • Risk preparedness
  • External environmental awareness
  • Mission assurance role implemented

These factors were tested against three large high-tech (science /engineering/IT) projects to determine their relevance and value in framing early-stage adjustments to typical and contemporary high-tech mega-projects. Commonalities were reviewed, and these served as the basis for the general conclusions.

I hope that these observations extracted from previous project experiences will assist you in improving the rate of project successes in your future projects.

Dr. Phil Crosby

Conclusions and Discussion  Conclusions and Discussion
  

Home | Issacons | PM Glossary | Papers & Books | Max's Musings
Guest Articles | Contact Info | Search My Site | Site Map | Top of Page