Project Management in the Age of Complexity and Change
11/30/10
Project Management in the Age of Complexity and Change
Open systems, Chaos, Self organization, and Interdependence are the characteristics which illustrate the rising complexity in the society that stem from rapid technological, social, economical and global changes in project management. The American society is evolving at a despicable rate and it is essential that businesses, especially the project management sector make a shift so that they are not left behind in this growing complex century.
Within open systems a complex society is composed of a complex web of interacting open systems that are subject to instability , and are changing constantly within the internet-like network if interconnections and interrelationships. Chaos occurs when there are uncertainties that are beyond long-term contemplation and that defy the classical management approach of orderly planning and control. With dealing with a complex society, the tendency is for self-organization to take place following the autocatalytic process, leading to autonomous, organic organizational units, as well as synergy, flexibility and teamwork. Finally the growth of interdependence makes it hard to make any predictions on the basis of previous experience.
The author outlines several functions as to why project management must be relevant in order to keep up with the societal change. First was a knowledge based society. The acceleration of technology will inevitably force everything and everyone to change and evolve as it does. As the author quotes “change has thus transformed and continues to transform, the world which we live.” Another key point pertained to the responses to societal complexity. How an accelerated change influence the society as a whole or the individual and groups within it. Other functions include group self-organization, individual self-reference and individual behavior and response to change.
In accordance with these functions were four types of project
Project Management in the Age of Complexity and Change
Open systems, Chaos, Self organization, and Interdependence are the characteristics which illustrate the rising complexity in the society that stem from rapid technological, social, economical and global changes in project management. The American society is evolving at a despicable rate and it is essential that businesses, especially the project management sector make a shift so that they are not left behind in this growing complex century.
Within open systems a complex society is composed of a complex web of interacting open systems that are subject to instability , and are changing constantly within the internet-like network if interconnections and interrelationships. Chaos occurs when there are uncertainties that are beyond long-term contemplation and that defy the classical management approach of orderly planning and control. With dealing with a complex society, the tendency is for self-organization to take place following the autocatalytic process, leading to autonomous, organic organizational units, as well as synergy, flexibility and teamwork. Finally the growth of interdependence makes it hard to make any predictions on the basis of previous experience.
The author outlines several functions as to why project management must be relevant in order to keep up with the societal change. First was a knowledge based society. The acceleration of technology will inevitably force everything and everyone to change and evolve as it does. As the author quotes “change has thus transformed and continues to transform, the world which we live.” Another key point pertained to the responses to societal complexity. How an accelerated change influence the society as a whole or the individual and groups within it. Other functions include group self-organization, individual self-reference and individual behavior and response to change.
In accordance with these functions were four types of project