Jan 25th 2010
Loading ...Soft systems thinking: A more holistic approach to project management
Projects are not ‘business as usual’, so it makes sense to take a different approach to project management. Associate Professor Shankar Sankaran and Dr Chris Stevens explain how project leaders can benefit from soft systems thinking.
http://www.vimeo.com/8965613 http://www.vimeo.com/8965054Consider this analogy: A project in an organisation is a bit like a relationship. Until the wedding day there are clearly defined start and end points, but after that, the marriage going forward is business as usual.
Just as there are different stages in a developing relationship, organisational projects, by their temporary nature, are not ‘business as usual’. So it makes sense for project leaders to take a different approach to management.
Project management theory had its origins in ‘hard systems’ thinking in the defence and construction industries. With a building or an airplane, it’s possible to identify the components, tasks, milestones and outcomes to achieve to complete the project.
Hard systems thinking breaks down a problem into quantifiable parts and analyses each component in the context of its relationships to other parts. But the more complex a project – and the more human variables involved – the more challenging it becomes to manage.
In the 1960s, ‘soft systems’ thinking (SSM) took a different approach. Originated with research by Professor Peter Checkland and others at Lancaster University, in the United Kingdom, it concentrated more on what people do in systems, and how to help them do their best. Soft systems thinking was better for understanding the less tangible elements of problem situations – things like human motivation and interaction.
Recent bodies of knowledge in project management stress the importance of functions like leadership, commitment, mentoring, decision making, monitoring, alignment and prioritisation. Using soft systems thinking, leaders are better able to address the political and cultural issues that affect their projects.
Today, most projects happen in large organisations with established control structures in place. But because projects are temporary, the normal – ‘business as usual’ – structures are not always the most appropriate way to manage them.
The ability to manage the unexpected and to change direction is important in the type of applications that project managers are involved in today in industries like software or finance. Where a building plan isn’t likely to change halfway through, a software application, for example, can be continually developed as conditions change. In a dynamic situation like this, effective project governance is the key to success.
Many project managers intuitively consider themselves as coordinators of resources – rather than controllers. They coordinate holistically, and they concentrate on governance rather than control. Understanding the difference between management and governance is crucial.
Effective project governance ensures that an organisation’s project portfolio is aligned to the organisation’’s objectives, is delivered efficiently and is sustainable. It also ensures that the board and other stakeholders are provided with timely, relevant and reliable information.
Systems thinking tells us that in a project, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But soft systems thinking goes further: as in a relationship, it is the bits in between – the unquantifiable human elements – that influence the failure or success.
This is an edited transcript from a seminar, ‘A Holistic Overview of Portfolio, Program and Project Management Governance’ given at the Centre for Management and Organisation Studies at UTS:Business on 30 September 2009.
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