modes of project resilience apm event 9th february 2016
TRANSCRIPT
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Dr. Elmar Kutsch Dr. Neil Turner Cranfield University.
Modes of Project Resilience
APM Oxford
9th February 2016
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Agenda
Why ‘Resilience’?
Are project processes enough?
A different way of thinking –
‘Mindfulness’
Our research - what do organisations
actually do?
How might you apply this to your work?
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Resilience
Project Resilience – how to adjust to,
and recover from, disruption and/or
adversity.
Some risks you just can’t foresee – how
well can you respond?
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The Importance of Projects
Projects deliver organisational strategy
(change, IT, new products...)
Numerous studies have shown we’re
(still) not good at them.
Why? And how might we improve?
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But we’re much better now?
Training, qualifications, standards…
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Project Plan Met Successfully?
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Is ‘process’ enough?
Are all projects created equal?
‘Execution-as-
Efficiency’
‘Execution-as-
Learning’
Projects can be placed along
this continuum
• Where are you, and where should you be?
7 © Cranfield University 2016
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Project Complexity
“There is always an easy solution to every human problem - neat, plausible,
and wrong.”
H.L. Menken (1917)
© Cranfield University 2016 8
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Projects challenges.
‘Coupling’ – how interlinked elements
are, and the knock-on effect one has
on another. Buffering, ‘breathing
space’.
Complexity – linear (predictable) or non-
linear (unpredictable) outcomes.
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Interactions & Coupling
Interactions/Coupling
Chart (adapted from
Perrow, 1984, p. 97)
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Project Failures
© Cranfield University 2016 11
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Response to complexity.
Consider two different approaches:
‘Rule-based’ - ‘We have a process for
that’.
‘Mindfulness-based’ - more reliant on
situated human cognition.
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Another View - ‘Resilience’
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• Behavioural response to complexity,
based on ‘mindfulness’. Five principles:
• ‘Preoccupation with Failure’
• ‘Chronic unease’ about potential errors
reporting of weak signals is encouraged
and incentivised
• Near-misses and errors are used as
learning opportunities and shared freely.
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Another View - ‘Resilience’
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• ‘Reluctance to Simplify’
• Assumes that failure is not the result of a
single, simple cause.
• Weak signals seen as systemic failures
that require a strong response
• People are encouraged to show a constant
doubt about simple explanations.
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Another View - ‘Resilience’
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• ‘Sensitivity to Operations’
• Organisational ability to remain close to
where failure happens.
• Ability to integrate pieces of information to
understand the ‘big picture’ is paramount.
• Requires fast and un-bureaucratic
communication and the imagination to look
beyond weak signals in isolation.
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Another View - ‘Resilience’
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• Deference to Expertise
• Expertise is valued more than hierarchy.
• Rank and status are subordinated to
pertinent knowledge and experience.
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Another View - ‘Resilience’
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• Commitment to Resilience
• Those closest to the problem and can
enact a first-response need to be
encouraged and motivated to do so.
• Needs training and investment in skills,
enabled by widened responsibility and
accountability.
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Empirical Research
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• Study in 5 UK organisations:
• Two insurance companies (‘Insure-Alpha’
and ‘Insure-Beta’)
• A large power station (‘Power-Co’)
• Major new power system product
development group (‘Engine-NPD’)
• Research company performing high-tech
R&D projects for clients (‘Inno-R&D’).
• 88 Interviews, 26 incidents. 18
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Findings (Engine-NPD)
• Major incidents included failures in the release of new
computer-aided design software.
• Normal response procedures - escalation, change requests
and rolling-back the software. However, the control systems
were unwieldy, leading to tense periods in which parties
allocated the costs and accountability to each other.
• Limited set of rules and procedures – efficient but not good
at dealing with complex issues.
‘Traditional’
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Findings (Insure-A & -B)
• Major incidents – disasters, including hurricanes.
• Creation of ‘temporary mindful capabilities’ – ‘Tiger Teams’
to give extra expert resources at times of need. Structurally
and emotionally detached.
• Good for dealing with rare emergencies, difficult to give
clear ownership of issues. ‘Parachuted-in’ staff dealing with
the challenge, hard for existing staff to let go.
‘Just-In-Time’
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Findings (Power-Co)
‘Infusion’
• Relatively high degree of mindful practice during times of
normality. Empowered to go beyond normal routines.
• Incidents included the breakdown of vital machinery,
essential to energy production.
• Challenge of dealing with both normality and abnormality
simultaneously - overload. Managers paid attention
primarily to the unfolding events, rather than the unaffected
systems that still had to be monitored and managed.
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Findings (Inno-R&D)
‘Entrepreneurial’
• The creation and maintenance of permanent mindful
capabilities. Limited rules and procedures. Decision-
makers are relatively ‘free’ to develop their own methods.
• Once a critical incident or situation had been identified and
shared, it was accepted that no standard operating
procedure may be suitable for dealing with it.
• Uncertainty was not seen as something to be avoided, but
as an opportunity for innovation, and to learn and improve.
Flexibility and problem-solving given priority.
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A crisis
Rule-based Mindfulness-based
Incident
Recovery
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Response to Complexity?
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Project Complexity
A) Where are your
projects? (1-4)
B) How do you run
them? (1-4)
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• Work on project processes to date has not
‘solved’ the problems we encounter.
• Flexibility and situated human expertise can
(sometimes) work better than ‘more rules’.
• ‘Project Resilience’ – build a culture of
‘mindfulness’.
• Mindfulness is not a panacea – it is can be
viewed as less ‘efficient’ in stable situations,
but effective and valuable in complex ones.
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Summary – Key Takeaways
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And finally….