Living On The Edge

Kathleen Haas, PMP - May 18, 2007

Business Analysis Governance Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) ProjectsAtWork

Managing projects in highly competitive and changing circumstances requires us to understand complexity thinking and put it into practice. Traditional project management techniques are based on our desire to decompose work into simple, easily managed components. Yet sometimes, more creative solutions emerge from teams operating on the edge of chaos. The trick is to know when to apply traditional project management techniques, and when to live on the edge.

Complexity is one of those words that are difficult to define. Some say complexity is the opposite of simplicity; others say complicated is the opposite of simple, while complex is the opposite of independent. A complex structure is said to use interwoven components that introduce mutual dependencies and produce more than a sum of their parts. In today’s systems, this is the difference between a myriad of connecting “stovepipes” and an effective set of “integrated” solutions (Lissack and Roos, 2002). A complex system can also be described as one in which there are multiple interactions between many different components (D. Rind, 1999). In the context of a design that is difficult to understand or implement, complexity is the quality of being intricate and compounded (IEEE, 2006).

In the twenty-first century, business processes …

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