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Second Order Project Management
Contributor(s): Cavanagh, Michael (Author)
ISBN: 1409410943     ISBN-13: 9781409410942
Publisher: Routledge
OUR PRICE:   $66.49  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: December 2011
Qty:
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Business & Economics | Project Management
- Business & Economics | Human Resources & Personnel Management
- Business & Economics | Leadership
Dewey: 658.404
LCCN: 2011027142
Series: Advances in Project Management
Physical Information: 0.31" H x 5.5" W x 8.5" (0.39 lbs) 144 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got, and if it's not good enough, you need to do something else. As project complexity increases, so too does the need to do new things. The existing Project Management tools - examples being Earned Value Management, PRINCE2, Lifecycle Management, PMBOK (R) - are incredibly useful; but they were designed for linear project development in a stable, understood environment. We term them 'First Order'. Second Order Project Management (PM) goes beyond, addressing the issues of a complex, unstable, uncertain environment with all its associated difficulties. Second Order PM has to address four major issues: the conspiracy of optimism, inappropriate contracting models, the application of methods and tools capable of dealing with complexity, and the need for creative, inspirational, adhocratic leadership. These problems are compounded by the need to convince executive sponsors from different disciplines to invest in the necessary process improvement - this book is designed to help alleviate the frustration that every member of the profession has experienced when trying to gain such approval. Illustrated by interviews with an international group of very senior managers responsible for managing highly complex projects, Michael Cavanagh explains why there is nothing magical, or even complicated, about Second Order PM. The techniques discussed include aspects of System Thinking, Experiential Learning and its application, Ethics and Governance, Stakeholder Relationships, Appropriate Contracting Models, Outcome-driven Management and Leadership Behaviour, all recognised as increasingly necessary in direct proportion to the complexity of the project at hand.