Anton Rossouw Pmoz 2009 Adaptive Project Management
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Transcript of Anton Rossouw Pmoz 2009 Adaptive Project Management
PhD Student: Anton Rossouw
Adaptive Project ManagementApplying a Complexity Science approach to
Project Management during organisational
change.
10-12 August 2009, National Convention Centre, Canberra
Introduction
The challenge of Change:
“We are all trying to cope with a cataract of interwoven
technological, economic, societal and ecological changes on
a global scale” (McMillan, 2008, p14)
Equilibrium is death ! (Pascale et al., 2000)
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the
most intelligent, but the one that is most responsive to
change” Charles Darwin 1859
Introducing Complexity science as a view of dynamical
change, and interpreting it for use during projects as
Adaptive Project Management.
Acceleration of change
Post 1950’s Information Age Megashift (Naisbitt,1982).
Instant access to information accelerates our lives and
the pace of change (Gleick, 2000).
Globalisation, social networking communities, virtual
worlds.
Projects are recognized as instruments of change
(Blake and Bush, 2009).
Change models such as Complexity Science (Dooley,
2004) that will help us to improve the way we deal with
change.
Complicated vs. Complex
Complicated System
Linear behaviour, Predictable.
Equal to the sum of its parts.
Complex System
Non-Linear responses, unpredictable
behaviour.
Positive and Negative feedback,
spontaneous emergence.
Cannot be adequately described by
analysing the components alone.
Source: Cilliers,1998.
In the “Zone”
Ralph Stacey’s Agreement and Certainty Matrix: (Stacey,1996)More from Macmillan at http://www.plexusinstitute.org/edgeware/archive/think/main_aides3.html
Complexity Science
A shift away from the predictability of classical science.
A new multidisciplinary science, still emerging, with
various interpretations and definitions. Offers a
fundamental world-view shift (Dent, 1999).
Time driven dynamical systems; that are “living”,
learning, evolving and spontaneously self-organising.
Open to environmental interaction, nonlinear behaviors,
unpredictable emergent phenomena, self-organising.
Order for free at the edge of chaos (Kaufman, 1993).
Evolution and collapse of societies (Diamond, 2005).
Map of Complexity evolution
Source : Brian Castellani : http://www.art-sciencefactory.com/complexity-map_feb09.html
Complexity in ActionRobot powered by Physarum slime mould. Sources (17 June 2009) :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2006/feb/15/uknews.robots
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/S/slime_mold.html
Ant Farm Simulator: Source (17 June 2009) :
http://www.geocities.com/chamonate/hormigas/antfarm/
Flocking behaviour – 3D Boids: Source (17 June 2009)
http://www.navgen.com/3d_boids/index.html
Jazz Improvisation
Source: Johnson (2007)Manchester UK: Source: Johnson (2001)
Image 22 June 2009 Google Earth
A Mindset Shift Emerging worldview
Holism, internal and external
Mutual non-linear causality
Perspectival reality
Indeterminism
Adaptive self-organisation
Relationship focus
Polarity thinking
Postmodern
Heterarchy within levels
Understanding and facilitation
Equality
Paradox
Biology
Patterns and lifecycles
Bottom up emergent behaviour
Focus on Feedback
Generalist
Morphogenisis
Focus on variations and trends
Source: Dent 2001, p8
Traditional worldview
Reductionism, external focus
Singular linear causality
Objective reality
Determinism
Survival of the fittest
Discreet entity focus
Either/Or thinking
Modern/Classical
Hierarchical levels
Prediction and control
Patriarchy
Logic
Physics
Deterministic equilibrium
Top down influenced behaviour
Focus on Directives
Specialist
Assembly
Focus on averages
Complex Adaptive Systems
Many interacting time driven agents, system wide
emergence, learning and adaptation, self organising.
Rich short-range information exchange, with positive,
negative, direct and indirect feedback.
Non-linear cause and effect, open to feeding on and
exchanging energy from the environment.
Historical “memory” of the past influences current action
and future evolution, seeking advantage for itself.
High energy evolution happens far from equilibrium at
“edge of chaos” learning, low energy leads to collapse.
Source: Cilliers, 1998.
CAS Diagram
CAS : Source (22 June 2009) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_adaptive_system
Complexity and Management Science
Consistent response against traditional Taylorist
command-and-control management practiced today
(McMillan, 2008).
A shift from working on (apart from) to working within (a
part of) the organisation.
Organisations are change challenged complex adaptive
systems (Anderson, 1999).
Applied as models and metaphors for strategic
management (Stacey, 2007), change management
(McMillan, 2004), learning (Anderson, 1999).
Complexity and Project Management
Project management (Ivory and Alderman, 2005,
Cooke-Davies et al., 2007, Jaafari, 2003).
Information systems development projects (Benbya
and McKelvey, 2006).
Project social capital (Weaver, 2007).
Innovation projects (Harkema, 2003).
Project based organisations (Sato et al., 2004).
Agile methodologies (Meso and Jain, 2006).
The project as a Hierarchy
To the project as a Network
Adapted from Stacey,1996
AB
C
F
D
E
L M
N
P
O
Q
R
Project 1
Organisation A
Shadow Network
Legitimate Network
XAgent
GHJ
IK
Organisation B
Environment / Landscape
S
T
U
Project 2
Complexity perspective on Change
Source: McMillan,2004, p67
Dynamical
Non-Linear
Creative
Opportunistic
Revolutionary
Continuous
Turbulent
Uncontrollable
Normal
Unpredictable
Traditional
Linear
Disruptive
Cause and Effect
Incremental
An Event
Calamitous
Controllable
Abnormal
Predictable
Adaptive Project Management
An interpretation of complexity as applied to projects as
Complex Adaptive Systems:
A new model for dynamical adaptive change management.
Participative leadership influence is more effective than the
traditional command and control management styles.
Supplemental to (not a replacement of) traditional models.
The balancing act of integrating the Complicated
(mechanism) and the Complex (organism) into an outcome.
Spontaneous re-organisation happens at the right conditions.
Adapt and evolve the plan (not time) and seek the free order.
Rich interactive environments with communication fuels
“edge of chaos” creative and innovative spontaneous events.
Value of Complexity thinking?
A new way of understanding the adaptive dynamics of
organisations, projects and change.
The promise of emergent order for free.
Innovative change happens at the edge of chaos.
The influence of leadership as a-part-of the system.
Leadership can be formal and also emergent.
Accentuate the importance of memory, start-up rules,
diversity and the power of close communication.
Anticipate non-linear unexpected events. Understanding
the space between logic and paradox.
Resources
Santa Fe Institute: www.santafe.edu
Plexus Institute: www.plexusinstitute.org
Complexity Society: www.complexity-society.com
Emergence Journal:
www.emergence.org/ECO_site/web-content/table.html
Ralph Stacey: www.herts.ac.uk/courses/schools-of-
study/business/research/complexity-and-management-
centre/home.cfm
Book: KAUFFMAN, S. (1995) At Home in the Universe:
The Search for Laws of Self-Organization and
Complexity, New York, Oxford University Press.
References (1) ANDERSON, P. (1999) Complexity theory and organization science. Organization Science, 10, 216-232.
BENBYA, H. & MCKELVEY, B. (2006) Toward a complexity theory of information systems development. Information Technology
and People, 19, 12-34.
BLAKE, I. & BUSH, C. (2009) Project Managing Change : practical tools and techniques to make change happen, Harlow, Pearson
Education.
CILLIERS, P. (1998) Complexity and postmodernism: Understanding complex systems, London and New York, Routledge.
COOKE-DAVIES, T., CICMIL, S., CRAWFORD, L. & RICHARDSON, K. (2007) We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto: Mapping the
strange landscape of complexity theory, and its relationship to project management. Project Management Journal, 38.
DENT, E. B. (1999) Complexity science: a worldview shift. Emergence, 1, 5-19.
DIAMOND, J. (2005) Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, New York, Viking Penguin.
DOOLEY, K. J. (2004) Complexity science models of organizational change. IN POOLE, S. & VAN DE VEN, A. (Eds.) Handbook of
organizational change and development. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
GLEICK, J. (2000) Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything London, Abacus.
HARKEMA, S. (2003) A complex adaptive perspective on learning within innovation projects. The Learning Organisation, 10, 340-
346.
HOLLAND, J. (1998) Emergence from Chaos to Order, New York, Oxford University Press.
IVORY, C. & ALDERMAN, N. (2005) Can Project Management Learn anything From Studies of Failure in Complex Systems?
Project Management Journal, 36, 5-16.
JAAFARI, A. (2003) Project management in the age of complexity and change. Project Management Journal, 34, 47-57.
JOHNSON, S. (2001) Emergence: The connected lives of ants, brains, cities and software, London, Penguin Books.
JOHNSON, N. (2007) Two's Company, Three is Complexity : A simple guide to the Science of all Sciences, Oxford, Oneworld
Publications.
References (2) KAUFMAN, S. A. (1993) The Sciences of Complexity and "Origins of Order". IN BROCKMAN, J. (Ed.) Creativity - The Reality Club
4. New York, Touchstone.
MCMILLAN, E. (2004) Complexity, Organizations and Change, London, Routledge.
MCMILLAN, E. (2008) Complexity, Management and the Dynamics of Change - Challenges for practice, London, Routledge.
MESO, P. & JAIN, R. (2006) Agile software development: Adaptive systems principles and best practices. Information Systems
Management, 23, 19-30.
NAISBITT, J. (1982) Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives, New York, Warner Books.
PASCALE, R., MILLEMANN, M. & GIOJA, L. (2000) Surfing the edge of chaos : the laws of nature and the new laws of business,
New York, Crown Business.
SATO, C. E. Y., DERGINT, D. E. A. & HATAKEYAMA, K. (2004) Project-Based Organizations as Complex Adaptive Systems.
Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology Symposium. Portland State Univeristy, Portland
OR, USA, LACTEC Institute of Technology for Development, Brazil.
STACEY, R.(1996) Complexity and creativity in organizations, San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.
STACEY, R. (2002), Strategic management and organisational dynamics: the challenge of complexity. 3rd ed. Prentice Hall,
Harlow
STACEY, R. (2007) Strategic management and organisational dynamics: The challenge of complexity to ways of thinking about
organisations, 5th e. Harlow, Essex, Pearson Education Limited.
TAYLOR, F., W. (1911) Principles of Scientific Management, New York, Harper & Bros.
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