What Does It Provide?
This book provides a five level taxonomy for assessing projects, their performance
characteristics and the pathway to optimization for each. The reader has five
distinct models to choose from. With that, we are hoping to appeal reasonably
to simplicity while not losing site of accuracy. For every complex question there
is a menu of considerations from which to choose as you advance toward the right
answer.
Who should be interested?
As Maslow said, "I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer,
to treat everything as if it were a nail".[10]
Imagine the patient on the operating table, the nurse passes the doctor a hammer…well,
that is quite often what happens in the project management world. Incredibility,
sensitive and intricate project structures, mission critical functionality, are
followed up with a bag of hammers.
The primary target audience for this book is the project practitioners and
stakeholders who are thoroughly frustrated with the tools at hand. The mis-calibration
of complexity is suggested as the general problem here.
Author's Message to Readers
Before we get too engrossed in the destruction of the current project management
panacea, it is important that we clarify. Project Management is a wonderful concept
for organizing things. For those aspiring to be a project manager, the virtues
of understanding the archetype behind the generally accepted practice, as with
the Project Management Institute's Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK)[11]
for example, establishes an important background for discussions herein.
The authors want to ensure that you have "inflated your balloon, before we
try to pop it". Our intention is not to undermine the fantastic work of the industry
leaders in project management practice. Rather, building on the fine work, this
book will situate the circumstance where the classical practice applies vanilla,
and will identify broader considerations where it doesn't.
We also wish to acknowledge the many institutions that have moved past the
classical organizing model to provide advanced perspectives — organizations
such as The International Centre for Complex Project Management, [12]
the Telfer School at the University of Ottawa,[13]
and the Project Management Institute.[14]
Next month In Chapters 2 and 3, Mark Seely
will look at Deconstructing and then Reconstructing the paradigm
10. "The
Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioral Science", Abraham Kaplan, San Francisco:
Chandler Publishing Co., 1964
11. "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK
Guide)", Project Management Institute, fifth edition, 2013.
12. The International Centre for Complex Project Management (ICCPM)
is a collaboration of Australian Department of Defence (Defence Materiel Organization)
and UK Ministry of Defence, US Department of Defense and Canadian National Defence
and Defence Industry as part of Department of Defence's Complex Project. "ICCPM's
key objectives are to: Develop and sustain effective collaborations educate and
develop leaders and organisations on issues of complexity and managing complex
programs; and Develop and disseminate practical knowledge and solutions" (ref.
https://iccpm.com/).
13. "Master of Business in Complex Project Leadership: The effective
management of large and complex projects is a strategic imperative for government
and industry at all levels. This specialized program is the only one of its kind
in North America and has been designed to equip experienced project leaders with
heightened leadership skills, advanced project management knowledge and the confidence
to navigate the complexities and deliver successful outcomes of capital procurement
projects, business transformation endeavours, information technology implementation,
or innovation and research and development commercialization." (Ref www.telfer.uottawa.ca/cpl/)
14. The Project Management Institute, "Making Project Management
Indispensable for Business Results" (ref. https://plus.google.com/u/0/+pmi/posts).
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Chapter
1: Introduction
