CHAPTER 8
Appropriate Project Cycles for Highly Complex Projects

As depicted in the Project Complexity Model, highly complex projects are typically designed to bring about large-scale, enterprise-wide change, and both the problem and the solution may be difficult to define, understand, or achieve. In addition, they are likely to be long in duration (more than six months) and may be staffed with inadequately seasoned project leadership and more than ten internal and external team members who use differing project management methods. The team on a highly complex project may not have worked together in the past, so it has no track record of performance. The project scope and schedule are both overambitious, with the schedule having extended milestones and a fixed deadline. Budget, scope, and quality have little or no room for flexibility. The business objective is unclear, and basic requirements are poorly understood and are expected to change. The solution requires groundbreaking innovation using immature and complex technologies, and the IT environment is highly complex.

Executive support for a highly complex project may not be adequate, and overall project success may depend largely on external constraints or dependencies. Multiple stakeholder groups are involved and the project has political implications. Commercial practices may need to undergo groundbreaking innovation. The change brought about by the project has impacts across the enterprise, affecting many dissimilar critical business processes and IT systems. New or unfamiliar regulatory requirements may bring significant exposure. Table 8-1 presents a profile of a highly complex project.

TABLE 8-1. Profile of a Highly Complex Project

In Figure 8-1, an example of a highly complex project, we see that multiple dimensions fall in the “Highly Complex” column. Our Project Complexity Formula (reproduced here as Table 8-2) tells us that a project with these characteristics should be managed as a highly complex project.

FIGURE 8-1. Example of Highly Complex Project

TABLE 8-2. Project Complexity Formula

Because complex projects are by their very nature unpredictable, it is imperative that the project team keep its options open as long as possible, building those options into the project approach. This adaptive approach requires that considerable time be dedicated to researching and studying the business problem or opportunity; conducting competitive, technological, and benchmark studies; defining dependencies and interrelationships; and identifying potential options to meet the business need or solve the business problem. In addition, the team experiments with alternative solutions and analyzes the economic, technical, operational, cultural, and legal feasibility of each until it becomes clear which solution option has the highest probability of success. When the opportunity is unclear and the solution is unknown, traditional linear approaches simply will not work.

In highly complex projects, it is important to separate design from construction. The goal is to use expert resources and allow them to spend enough time experimenting before they make design decisions; the construction activities will thereby become much more predictable. Linear methods will likely be appropriate during the construction phase of the project.

Models for adaptive project management are still emerging. We suggest two that are designed to provide iterative learning experiences, adapt and evolve as more is learned, examine and experiment to determine solution design viability, and delay decision-making as long as possible (that is, until the last responsible moment, the point at which further delays will put the project at risk): the evolutionary prototyping model and the extreme project management model (Figure 8-2). These models employ several contemporary management practices, such as late design freeze, built-in redundancy, lots of experimentation, and designing and building prototypes for multiple parallel solutions.

FIGURE 8-2. Highly Complex Projects Mapped to Project Cycle Approaches

EVOLUTIONARY PROTOTYPING MODEL

The “keep-our-options-open” approach often involves rapid prototyping—a fast build of a solution component to prove that an idea is feasible—which is typically used for high-risk components, requirements understanding, or proof of a concept.

Evolutionary prototyping is quite effective for multiple iterations of requirements elicitation, analysis, and solution design. Iteration is the best defense against uncertainty because with each iteration the technical and business experts examine the prototype and provide learnings that are built into the next iteration.

The strength of prototyping is that customers work closely with the project team, providing feedback on each iteration. If requirements are unclear and highly volatile, prototyping helps bring the business need into view.¹ Figure 8-3 depicts the rapid prototyping model.

FIGURE 8-3. Rapid Prototyping Model

eXtreme PROJECT MANAGEMENT MODEL

The extreme project management model was developed by Doug De-Carlo and is fully defined in his book, extreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles, and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility.²The model is designed to be used when a great deal of change is expected during the project, speed is of the essence, and uncertainty and ambiguity exist. Pharmaceutical research for a groundbreaking drug, new product development for a pioneering invention, and major business change efforts are examples of extreme projects.

The extreme project management model consists of a set of principles, values, questions, and success factors that can be applied effectively to highly complex projects. These elements are outlined in Table 8-3.

TABLE 8-3. Elements of the extreme Project Management Model

This approach consists of a number of short, experimental iterations designed to determine project goals and identify the most viable solution. As in the agile model, extreme project management requires that the customer be involved every step of the way until the solution emerges—a practice that involves many iterations. Like the spiral model, the extreme model terminates after the solution is found (or when the sponsor is unwilling to fund any more research); the project team then transitions to one of the other appropriate models.

DeCarlo depicts extreme project management as a squiggly line that shows the project from start to finish, demonstrating the open, elastic approach that is required (see Figure 8-4). The focus is on the art of project management versus the more scientific and technical scheduling and planning. extreme project management is sometimes also called radical project management or adaptive project management. Some equate it to agile project management.

FIGURE 8-4. Open Approach of extreme Project Management Model

NOTES

1. Business eSolutions, “Project Lifecycle Models: How They Differ and When to Use Them.” Online at http://www.business-esolutions.com/islm.htm#modifiedwaterfall (accessed January 2008).

2. Doug DeCarlo, extreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles, and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004).