PM-Interface

By Mike Adams, PMP® 
President Elect - PMI Otowi Bridge 
@MichaelAdamsPMP

Schlop--skoosh, “Aaaah...Nooo!” I grimaced slightly as the stale smelling mud ebbed over the tops of my sneakers, seeping through the netting above my toes, and flowing past my ankle to fill the cavity of my shoe surrounding my foot. “Aaaach...yuck, I really should have paid more attention to where I was stepping!” I had been exploring the surrounding area of a beaver pond, and I had been hyper focused on noting the incredible magnitude and variety of fauna, insect life, fowl, and aquatic animals. I simply wasn’t paying attention to where my foot landed, or how soft the saturated earth was. Rather I was intoxicated with deep blue sky, stretching in every direction, broken only by dramatic cloud formations on the eastern horizon, which billowed enormous monuments of grey and white masterpieces that architects could dream of matching in grandeur and beauty, but never achieve.

Photo by Mike Adams beaver dam by Mike Adams near Creede, Colorado

I grinned broadly at my wife, who was equally rapt in the natural beauty surrounding us, and said, “this is incredible, I can’t believe how beautiful this place is. But now that my foot is soaked, I sure hope we see a beaver.” She smiled and nodded. I can say, without a moment’s hesitation, that if you’ve never been to Creede, Colorado, you should GO!

We were in the middle of an 18 mile scenic drive through historic mining sites, and Tara said, “Oh wow, there are beaver ponds. I want to stop and look for a beaver.” That little excursion was a high point on an already memorable and incredibly fun vacation. Since that point, I’ve been contemplating that beaver pond, which was a sanctuary of diversity in the natural ecosystem. It inspired me to do a little reading about beavers and their ecological effects. Did you know that beaver engineering and beaver dam construction are a natural marvel? Beaver activities create layers upon layers of ecological effect that increase biodiversity and enhance a natural habitat.

In my article, “Innovation: Of Collision and Conflict,” I briefly explored permaculture‘s use of the edge effect to increase biodiversity, and encourage natural innovation. Today, we’ll lightly explore systems theory, and how a “beaver dam,” on the surface may appear as a mere blockage, but in fact, it is an enhancement, which encourages biodiversity, and improves the ecological robustness of an area.

Beaver ponds are temporary constructs, which are created by and maintained by beavers. I suppose in that way, they mirror a project, except that most projects I know of are not managed by beavers. Beaver dams give rise to an oasis for certain types of plant and animal life, which don’t compete well in forest areas outside of the beaver’s manufactured environment. Beaver ponds create fertile ground for fields to grow when a beaver moves to a new location, they create a habitat for waterfowl, insects, plants and animals which would otherwise not be found in the area. They help to retain water in areas that might otherwise be somewhat arid, and they encourage tree species to grow, which might otherwise be choked out by the species of trees that beavers enjoy eating.

So how does this relate to business? It is tempting to say it doesn’t, I just wanted to write about my vacation, but it does. A business is a system, which has workflow, work stoppages, and people engineering the environment in which the business takes place. The lesson we could learn from the beaver is this. Since we’re engineering the environment in which we do business, we get to ask, what type of environment do we want that to be? What sorts of mechanisms do we need to implement in order to encourage that environment? How do we protect the benefits of that environment once we’ve successfully created it without having the whole system become a stagnant nuisance?

Enter systems engineering, a sub-set of systems theory. In previous articles, I’ve explored the notion that a senior PM ought to be engaged in, and focused on delivering the business benefit of any project they are managing. Traditional project management has a tendency to conceive of a project as an island, independent from the organization and culture for which it is being conducted. While this point of view creates certain efficiencies for the project, it requires a lot of planning and contextualizing about project deliverables prior to ever engaging a project manager, or planning the execution of that project. In short, the creation of meaningful project requirements, which align the project with organizational strategy becomes a project in itself, because once the project begins, the PM won’t focus on the business strategy in which the project is grounded, rather she will focus, exclusively on conforming to time, scope and budget requirements.

This may be workable for some construction projects, but it isn’t a good strategy for today’s economy in general. Organizations want project managers who understand the business context for their projects and who focus on fulfilling the business justifications that initiated projects to begin with. A PM who understands the system inside of which her project is established will better be able to actively monitor and control the execution of that project to fit within that system or, in some cases, to transform that system in ways that the organization wants.

While our beaver is a haphazard author of systemic transformation, we can learn from his example and employ those lessons to intentionally align our projects with organizational strategy, while accounting for how project results will be received and embraced or resisted. A savvy PM will consider the whole ecosystem inside of which her project is occurring and proceed from the context of how to maximize the benefit of her efforts, rather than simply adhering to the traditional confines of time, scope and budget.

She will consider the myriad processes involved and work to identify strategic locations to place beaver dams that slow the flow of work or communication, or decisions and allow for needed reflection, germination of ideas, or perhaps strategic review. Once the silt and other fine particles obscuring clarity have settled, important decisions can be made as to the direction or next steps.

What are your thoughts on utilising systems theory or systems engineering in project management? If you avoid this sort of thinking, why and how do you work around it? Please share any experiences you’ve had with applying systemic thinking for a successful project.

Photo by Mike Adams, stream running down hill from the beaver dam near Creede, Colorado