Extreme over-runs and what we can learn

Williams, Terry (2005) Extreme over-runs and what we can learn. PMI Global Congress 2005 EMEA. Proceedings.

Abstract

All projects deliver value, even those that fail: It is the lessons that project professionals learn from failed projects that often teaches them how they can best use the discipline's tools and techniques. This paper examines previously published catastrophic projects, endeavors that were managed well but which far exceeded the defined budget. In doing so, it first discusses project complexity and project uncertainty in relation to standard project management techniques; it then examines the systemic and soft effects shaping project behavior and subsequently explores the relationship between project disruptions and feedback. Following this, it looks at The Strathclyde Process and compares it to the ways that project professionals analyze project risk and develop lessons learned activities. This paper subsequently describes how excessive overspending causes positive feedback loops and how apparently sensible project-management actions generate unexpected results. It then details the ways that complex projects behave, puts forward measures that can enable project managers to effectively and efficiently realize such initiatives, and questions the significance of using the PMBOK® Guide in executing projects. It closes by considering a more systemic view of project risk and concludes by suggesting that researchers and practitioners work to define a method that relates project management philosophy to metrics.

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