Effective Project Management, 8th Edition

Part IIIComplex Project Management

Part III discusses the major versions of complex project management. If Traditional Project Management (TPM) is the “Happy Path,” then Agile Project Management (APM) and Extreme Project Management (xPM) are something altogether different. Happy is in the eyes of the beholder and some might find complex project management happy because they relish the challenges it provides. They are the chefs among us. Others, the cooks among us, fear having to think their way out of a project challenge and would rather have the comfort of a recipe they could follow without having to think—not too much anyway.

In the complex project world at least one of the goals or solutions are not clearly known at the outset of the project. That usually means that the TPM models won't work and some adjustments will have to be made. Be comforted in the fact that the phases along with the tools, templates, and processes that support them will still be applicable in this complex landscape but not in the same way as you have been using them in the TPM world.

Chapter 11: Complexity and Uncertainty in the Project Landscape introduces complexity and uncertainty and the impact it has on a number of project variables.

Chapter 12: Agile Complex Project Management Models discusses projects whose goal is clearly defined but whose solution is missing some or most parts. These are called Agile projects. The problem here is that whatever solution is discovered the business value that ...