Management Skills for Project Leaders What to do when you do not kno
Managing projects involves being able to deal with uncertainty and complexity in the workplace, but traditional management models have severe limitations under these circumstances. We require new paradigms to help us make sense of the world in which we li
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Management SkiLLs for Project Leaders What to do when you do not know what to do
Springer Basel AG
Author: Marie-Claude Foster Centre for InternationaL ChiLd HeaLth Institute of ChiLd HeaLth University CoLLege London 30 GuiLford Street London WC1N 1 EH EngLand
A CIP cataLogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress, Washington D.C., USA Deutsche Bibliothek Cataloging-in-Publication Data Management skills for project leaders : what to do when you do not know what to do / Marie-Claude Foster. - Basel; Boston; Berlin: Birkhăuser, 2001 ISBN 978-3-7643-6423-6 ISBN 978-3-0348-8260-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-0348-8260-6
The use of registered names, trademarks etc. in this pubLication, even if not identified as such, does not imply that they are exempt from the reLevant protective Laws and regulations or free for general use. This work is subject to copyright. ALl rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of transLation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in date banks. For any kind of use permission of the copyright owner must be obtained. © 2001 Springer Basel AG Originally published by Birkhăuser Verlag, Basel, Switzerland in 2001 [over design: Micha Lotrovsky, CH-4106 Therwil, Switzerland Printed on acid-free paper produced from chLorine-free puLp. TCF 00
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To my parents
VII Table of contents
Preface .......................................... XIII XV
Acknowledgements 1 Dealing with uncertainty and complexity
............ .
The issue ......................................... Complexity in the work situation ....................... Complexity as normal ............................... Work organisations as complex systems ................. The limitations of traditional linear models ............... The future is always uncertain ......................... Implications of an uncertain future for project leaders Long-term plans are problematic .................... Self-organisation in work organisations: from ossification to disintegration and the edge of chaos .................... Organisations which do not thrive and are not effective operate in a stage of ossification or disintegration ................ The edge of chaos - both order and disorder .............. We co-create the future although we are not in control: the importance of "taking part" ........................... Emergent strategies: the importance of conversations and relationships ...................................... Other useful strategies in the light of an uncertain future: short-term planning and continuous monitoring ............ Implications and useful strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Paradox is a characteristic of the chaotic edge ............. Implications for project leaders ..................... Surviving and thriving at the chaotic edge ................ References and suggested reading ......................
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