ISSUE 23: DECEMBER 2016
CONNECT BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
2016 Highlights News: ICCPM PM Prize - Inaugural Winner
Education: 2017 National Training Calendar Released A Tale of Two Conferences
Articles: 2016 the Year Program Management was Recognised at the Highest Level in the USA and Australia Coaching Engineers as Future Leaders
Academic-In-Residence New thinking About Projects
Book Reviews: Ethics and Governance in Project Management
|||||| CONTACT US STAFF Deborah Hein Managing Director & CEO Dr Erin Evans Director of Education and Research
END OF YEAR MESSAGE
Diane Hope Business Manager Cathy Baljak Learning & Development Manager
ICCPM BOARD Harry Bradford, Chair Chris Jenkins Simon Henley Julie Dunlap Mary McKinlay Deborah Hein Alicia Aitken Tim Cummins International Centre for Complex Project Management Ltd (ICCPM) PO Box 327 Deakin West ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA Level 2, Equinox 3 70 Kent Street Deakin ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA +61 2 6120 5110 admin@iccpm.com iccpm.com
2016 has absolutely flown by and Christmas is rapidly approaching. The team at ICCPM are looking forward to a well-deserved break. Our office will be closed over the Christmas period from Thursday, 22nd December and re-opening on Monday, 9th January 2017. We wish you a happy and safe holiday season and we look forward to connecting with you in 2017; which promises to be an exciting year as ICCPM celebrates its 10th anniversary. Deb, Erin, Diane and Cathy
Twitter: @iccpm LinkedIn: ICCPM Complex Project Management Discussion Group The views expressed by contributors to this magazine are solely their own and ICCPM accepts no responsibility or liability for these views.
© ICCPM 2016
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BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
CONTENTS NEWS
EDUCATION
2016 Highlights
4-5
ICCPM PM Prize - Inaugural Winner
6
2017 National Training Calendar A Tale of Two Conferences
7 8-9
7-9
4-6
ARTICLES
ICCPM NETWORK
2016 The Year Program Management was Recognised at the Highest Level in the USA and Australia 10 - 11 Coaching Engineers as Future Leaders
16 - 19
10 - 19
Fellow Profiles Rod Equid Jude Olson Member Profiles Gregg Bohan Peter Terwee
12 - 13
12 - 13
BOOK REVIEWS
22 23
20 - 23
ACADEMIC-IN-RESIDENCE New Thinking About Projects Organizational Project Management
20 21
LINKS & EVENTS Calendar
24
Food For Thought
25
24 - 25
Ethics and Governance in Project Management: Small Sins Allowed and the Line of Impunity 14 - 15
14 - 15 BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
ICCPM CONNECT | 3
CEO’S 2016 HIGHLIGHTS
CEO’S 2016 HIGHLIGHTS As 2016 comes to a close it is timely to look back and reflect on the year that was and to acknowledge those who contributed to what was a very busy and successful year for ICCPM. We started the year on a high with advice in January that our application to become a Registered Training Organisation had been successful. Soon after this our very own Certificate IV in Responding to Organisational Complexity was accredited by the Australian Skills Quality Authority. The success of these applications is no mean feat and was the result of over eighteen months of effort by a number of people. I particularly want to recognise Cathy Baljak, our Learning and Development Manager, who drove the process and prepared the application documentation. Dr Erin Evans
Some in house statistics of interest • 5 Certificate IV courses, 5 IPU courses and 6 other workshops (STCPM/GDLS/ STrains/NT/ Ray) to over 481 students/participants • Welcomed 71 new members to ICCPM • Published 4 CONNECT magazines and 7 member bulletins • Spoke at /attended a range of conferences including AIPM/Promac/PGCS • 62 tweets • 9 LinkedIn posts; • 7 roundtable events in four countries
Around the Network In May our good friends at the Centre for Executive Leadership, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa were granted permission to run their Executive MBA in Complex Program Leadership, the first cohort commenced in September.
With all of this extra activity in the education space it became evident that we needed additional resources so in April we appointed Dr Erin Evans as Director of Education and Research. Erin has brought a wealth of knowledge to the team particularly in the fields of complexity and systems thinking. As if delivering our Cert IV courses wasn’t enough, Erin also delivered programs to senior leaders from five Pacific Nations on Governance, Strategic Planning and Leadership in conjunction with QUT’s International Projects Unit, and presented at several conferences. 4 | ICCPM CONNECT
The fantastic four – Team Telfer BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
CEO’S 2016 HIGHLIGHTS
In September the ICCPM Board appointed six new Fellows. We welcome these individuals who have been recognised for their excellence in Managing Complex Projects.
Thank you to: • Dr Erin Evans, Dr Richard Barber, Dr John Davies, Mr Patrick Albina and Mr Ian Biggs for your facilitation or support of our courses deliveries during the year. • Our 481 Course/workshop participants over the year for your attention, interest and enthusiasm • To our diligent and professional ICCPM Board of Directors for your governance oversight, support and direction.
Bruce Armsrong
Dr Phil Crosby
• ICCPM CONNECT Contributors your contributions have been fantastic, we look to increase participation numbers in 2017 • ICCPM Fellows, Partners and Members for making the network a rich mosaic of individuals and organisations with a demonstrable interest in working in complex environments as best you can and making a significant difference.
Rod Equid
Deborah Feakins In 2016 the Board resolved to separate consulting activities from the not-for-profit activities. On 1 July 2016, ICCPM Solutions Pty Ltd was born and will be the contracting mechanism for all consulting work going forward.
Looking Forward to 2017 – Key Activities Dan Ross
Nandini Srikantiah
Quarterly CONNECT Magazine As you will be aware, ICCPM publishes the ICCPM CONNECT Magazine each quarter. What you may not know is that Cathy Baljak is the person responsible for getting this to you. Cathy is the person who collects and collates all the contributions and edits them into the magazine format in an appealing way and publishes the final version for your viewing pleasure. She is also the one who has to tolerate us getting material to her at the last possible moment and remaining polite and composed. Thank you Cathy, each time the magazine is published it gets better and better, well done.
BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
• 2017 marks the 10th Anniversary of ICCPM and we intend to celebrate in style! If you have any ideas let us know. • The launch of the Roundtable Outcomes Paper will be co-ordinated with the 10th Anniversary. • The 2017 Course Calendar is out and includes course deliveries in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney. We can and will deliver anywhere if you have more than 15 people to do a course we will come to you, let us know. • Development of a Diploma level course and application for accreditation will commence early in the new year. • Review of the Complex Project Manager Competency Standards. • Feasibility study into the devleopment of a CPM Certification Scheme. ICCPM CONNECT | 5
NEWS
ICCPM PM Prize - Inaugural Winner The inaugural winner of the ICCPM PM Prize is Lee O’Dowd-Austen, a recent postgraduate student of the Master of Project Management program at the University of Technology Sydney. Lee was awarded the prize based on his academic performance in the Managing Project Complexity subject. Lee was presented his prize at the 2016 Design Architecture and Building Prize Giving by the then Dean, Professor Desley Luscombe. “ICCPM is pleased to join with the University of Technology Sydney in awarding this prize to Lee to recognise his academic excellence in the Managing Complexity subject of his Master’s Program”, said Deborah Hein, MD/CEO of ICCPM. “Our purpose in sponsoring this specific prize is to encourage and inspire graduates to join with and become some of the best practitioners in the world so that one day they can manage projects of national significance and potentially become a Fellow of ICCPM”. Initially Lee studied for a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) from the University of New England and wrote a thesis that tested the philosophical underpinnings of creating an artificially-intelligent electronic circuit. In his early career after graduating he went on to manage a community mental health support service and a community building service for men at risk of suicide then he moved on to procuring services for government for the better part of ten years. Since graduating from Master Project Management at UTS earlier this year Lee has been working for NSW Government on a policy framework that will evaluate the social and economic performance of social services across NSW and also on PhD research to propose a way for government to implement a Total Quality Management framework so that the performance of contracts can be better understood and improved over time.
(UTS) are internationally recognised and certified degrees providing a pathway into specialised project management roles, or advancement to project and program director positions. Students have the unique opportunity to develop a specialised skill set by choosing a submajor in business, construction, engineering, IT, local government management, or health. This approach provides students with the opportunity to combine project management disciplines with sector-focused knowledge. The course incorporates UTS’s block teaching approach, which creates an immersive environment where students work with their peers in a team-based, simulated project environment. “It was an honour to be nominated for this award among the field of my capable and hard working peers”, said Lee. “Despite being instrumental to project success or failure the complexity of projects is often overlooked. Through my Masters course at UTS, Dr Julien Pollack and Dr Kaye Remington have helped me understand both how important it is to proactively deal with complexity in projects, and how to do it. Thank you UTS and ICCPM for your encouragement and support.”
Lee O’Dowd-Austen accepting the ICCPM PM Prize of $500 at University of Technology Sydney
The post-graduate project management degrees offered at the University of Technology Sydney 6 | ICCPM CONNECT
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EDUCATION
Certificate IV in Responding to Organisational Complexity Australia’s Premier Complexity Skills Development Program After an immensely successful program delivery in 2016 we are now offering our Certificate IV in Responding to Organisational Complexity in more cities than ever before. There is no better time to elevate your career within project and progam management. View our 2017 training calendar below for course dates and locations. Be sure to book your places early as there are a limited number of places available.
STUDENT INFORMATION HANDBOOK COURSE BROCHURE ENROLMENT FORM
We encourage you to read the Student Information Handbook and Course Brochure to ensure this qualification is right for you.
2017 National Training Calendar DATES
COURSE NAME
LOCATION
7 - 9 March 16 - 17 May 25 - 26 July 23 - 25 May 1 2 August 25 - 26 October 4 - 6 April 11 - 12 july 12 - 13 September 28 - 30 March 31 May - 1 June 2 - 3 August 10 - 12 April 6 - 7 June 22 - 23 August
Identify and Respond to Complexity in Project Environments Risk and Decision Making in Complex Environments Lead through Organisational Complexity
Canberra
Identify and Respond to Complexity in Project Environments Brisbane Risk and Decision Making in Complex Environments nnnnggLead through Organisational Complexity ggg Identify and Respond to Complexity in Project Environments Melbourne Risk and Decision Making in Complex Environments Lead through Organisational Complexity Identify and Respond to Complexity in Project Environments Adelaide Risk and Decision Making in Complex Environments Lead through Organisational Complexity Identify and Respond to Complexity in Project Environments Sydney Risk and Decision Making in Complex Environments Lead through Organisational Complexity
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ICCPM CONNECT | 7
EDUCATION
A Tale of Two Conferences ICCPM has presented and been involved with two major project management conferences since the last CONNECT magazine. October 16-19 ICCPM presented in a book-end fashion at the opening and closing days of AIPM National conference. One month later on 16-19 November ICCPM presented at and Chaired sessions at the International 10th ProMAC conference, of The Project Management Society.
challenges that they face in todays more volatile, ambiguous operating environment.
The 40th AIPM Conference
In addition to sharing fundamentals of complex project management during our session we also ran an open space workshop on what is wanted by the users for a community of practice.
It was great to catch up with many of the Australian project management community at the 40th National AIPM conference and IPMA conference held in Sydney 16-19 October. On the opening day ICCPM, Director of Education co-hosted a workshop session with Ian Biggs, MAIPM to a capacity audience of 120+. It was a lively discussion on complex project management and building a community of practice. We shared our approach and philosophy on managing projects in complex environments. These sessions prove to be valuable opportunities to share our insights and understanding of the field and to dispel apprehensions that our purpose is to make projects more complex. It highlights that our grounded approach to describing the dynamics of what is happening resonates with the lived experience of project managers and helps them to make sense of the “...what made it a successful year for you?”
We also highlighted that the complexity based approaches that we advocate are complementary to the traditional approaches of project management. A competent complex project manager will have grounded competency as a traditional project manager and gain additional skills in managing complexity.
It is very valuable to gain this feedback directly from project managers about what they want and need in terms of managing complexity more effectively. The questions were posed in an Appreciative Inquiry framing that asked: “if you were to imagine that we are 12 months from now and you are looking back what made it a successful year for you?” To this overarching question the importance of learning to identify complexity, networking with like minded people in a challenging, safe environment (see word cloud). They wanted other PMs managing in complex environments to be involved as well as project sponsors (note that this point was again highlighted at a follow up special interest group (SIG) session held in Brisbane 2 weeks ago).
acceptance
application
better
challenged
change add collaboration contribution positive
fun
problem
identify
outcomes
skills tools enthusiastic
sharing
networking experience
passionate Identify complexity Networking with like people Challenged thinking 8 | ICCPM CONNECT
originating useable
perspectives solved thought
understanding innovation insights BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
EDUCATION
The need to have sponsors in the room hearing
and learning about the impact of complexity on project management is a key issue that has been highlighted. The mode of delivery included web based, flexible modes and LinkedIn groups. A webbased delivery was piloted for remote Queensland in the December SIG meeting. Not unsurprisingly the key things that would make it successful were tools and also sharing with others in the same boat to know that you are not alone with these challenges. What they did not want was a talk-fest or a sales session. The benefit of delivering this highly engaged and well attended session on the opening day was that this encouraged many people to come by our booth at the exhibitor area to speak with us about your interests and needs. If you are joining our Connect magazine for the first time from the AIPM conference we wish you a big welcome. On the last day of the conference ICCPM CEO Deb Hein co-hosted a world café style open space session. Our table was focused on managing in complex environments. We thank our partner AIPM again for their invitation to participate in this year’s conference and look forward to doing it again in Melbourne in 2017. The Melbourne tram keychain memento is hanging by my desk as a reminder to think up what will be the next topic for the 2017 presentation regarding the impacts of complexity on project management. ProMAC Conference 16-19 November Our Director of Education and Research was an international Advisory Board member of the 10th ProMAC conference held on the Gold Coast. This is the annual conference of the Society of Project Management Japan. The conference has a rich history of bringing together thought leaders from academia and industry to discuss the theory and practice of project, program, portfolio, organisation and systems management, including the latest global trends and developments. The audience was predominantly international from Japan, other SE Asian countries, South Africa, the Middle East and Europe. This was an excellent opportunity to meet with professionals from around the world and to learn more about their perspectives and experience of project management.
BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
CEO ICCPM - Deborah Hein and Director of Research Erin Evans at the ICCPM booth at the AIPM Conference There were many practitioners presenting researchbased papers on their project delivery and studies. There was a strong focus on the application of agile approaches. All papers were peer reviewed and will be published in the conference proceedings. Overall complexity-based approaches were not widely featured on the program and consequently our presentation on complexity implications for project management and the complex project management capabilities as set out in our Complex Project Management Complexity Standards v 4.1 (August 2012) was well received. The paper was entitled “Complex Project Management – Competence, capability building and insights “. The conference dinner held in the Skyneedle 78 floor 360-degree function room was a great way to end a successful conference and provided an opportunity to connect with academic and practitioner colleagues from around the world. We thank the conference organisers for their invitation to present and be part of the international advisory board. We look forward to 2017 and the opportunity to take part in a range of conferences and speaking engagements to share our passion for complexity management approaches. As part of our own 10th Anniversary celebration we are also planning our own international conference to be held throughout the year. We hope that many of you can join us to hear from many speakers, participate in discussions, share knowledge and experience, and maybe even present your own session.
ICCPM CONNECT | 9
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2016 The Year Program Management was Recognised at the Highest Level in the USA and Australia On the 12th December 2016 S.1550 - Program Management Improvement Accountability Act became public law in the United States. This significant legislation is designed to enhance accountability and best practices in project and program management and will help maximise efficiency throughout the US federal government resulting in more successful programmes. The unanimous approval indicates a high level of bipartisan support for legislation that focuses on the principles of improving efficiency and reducing waste in federal government projects and programs. The Project Management Institute (PMI) requested the National Academy of Public Administration prepare a white paper supporting the legislation; to highlight high-level challenges and opportunities to enhance and institutionalise program management in the federal sector. The white paper sponsored by PMI, researched and published by the National Academy of Public Administration was provided to congress in support of the proposed legislation. In his forward Mr Dan G. Blair, President and CEO (NAPA) said “Given the proliferation of important transformational initiatives in the Federal space, as well as the increasing challenges associated with uncertain budgetary resources, increasing workloads, and a rapidly changing 21st century operating environment, the Legislative and Executive branches are paying more attention to the decades-old discipline of program management….”. “…agencies may increase the efficiency of federal programs and projects, and save taxpayer funds, as well as address the HighRisk List areas, many of which have been on the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) high-risk list for several years.” Unfortunately the US legislation does exempt the Defence portfolio which like all jurisdictions consumes the lion’s share of the budget and 10 | ICCPM CONNECT
contains the projects/programs containing the highest levels of complexity. On the 12th of August 2015 Professor Peter Shergold, AC transmitted to the then Minster for the Environment of the Australian Government his report and findings titled “Learning from Failure – Why large government policy initiatives have gone so badly wrong in the past and how the chances of success in the future can be improved. An independent review of government processes for implementing large programs and projects.” It was released on the APS Commissions website in March 2016 for public consumption. The report that almost hits 100 pages of extremely thoughtful and thought provoking insights into the way the Australian Public Sector operates provided the following conclusions in relation to enhancing program management: D.13 The Australian Public Service Commission should work with industry associations to develop standards of proficiency for public sector project and program managers, with agencies committing to support these staff through career development opportunities, continued education and participation in professional communities of practice. D.14 For all projects and programs, there needs to be a clear understanding about who accepts end-to-end responsibility for managing implementation, wields delegated authority and where accountability resides. D.15 The APS should establish a ‘tiger team’ capacity by which service wide expertise can be harnessed to assist Senior Responsible Officers in the management of high risk, large-scale projects. D.16 Whilst acknowledging that different departments have different workforce needs, Senior Executive Service selection criteria should place greater emphasis on program leadership when considering a candidate’s demonstrated breadth of experience. BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
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An excerpt from the Bill follows: “This bill establishes as additional functions of the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements to:
In response to the Shergold report it is disappointing that recommendations D13 – D15 are capabilities already available, or have been available in the past (D14 was established then disestablished within PM&C from 2010-2012) should the APS choose to look outside of their immediate environments to find them. Industry have the capability and expertise to develop and provide coaching support for Tiger Teams that can be extremely useful, the risk of providing these teams ‘in-house’ is the need to ensure members of those teams are the most up to date and educated people, otherwise you will get what you have always gotten – No change. For example ICCPM, PMI, IPMA/AIPM have standards that address proficiency for project and program managers all the way up to those requiring complex project/program competencies, yet the recommendation suggests they need to be developed! Unfortunately the Shergold report contains only recommendations that the government can choose to implement or not. To date there is limited evidence of any change in how program management is executed in the public service. The Shergold report can be found here: http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-andmedia/current-publications/learning-fromfailure By comparison the passing of legislation into law in the US does demonstrate a significant commitment and understanding of the need for improved program management in Federal Agencies . BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
• adopt and oversee implementation of government-wide standards, policies, and guidelines for program and project management for executive agencies; • chair the Program Management Policy Council (established by this Act); • establish standards and policies for executive agencies consistent with widely accepted standards for program and project management planning and delivery; • engage with the private sector to identify best practices in program and project management that would improve federal program and project management; • conduct portfolio reviews to address programs identified as high risk by the Government Accountability Office (GAO); • conduct portfolio reviews of agency programs at least annually to assess the quality and effectiveness of program management; and • establish a five-year strategic plan for program and project management. The bill exempts the Department of Defense (DOD) from such provisions to the extent that they are substantially similar to: (1) federal provisions governing the defense acquisition workforce; or (2) policy, guidance, or instruction of DOD related to program management.” The white paper, published in July 2015 can be downloaded here: http://www.pmi.org/-/ media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/businesssolutions/improve-program-managementfederal-government.pdf A summary of the legislation can be found here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114thcongress/senate-bill/1550 ICCPM commends both the US and Australian governments for making the issue of program management a core issue in 2016. We recognise that this is but a first step in making the improvements necessary to start to delivering projects and programs more successfully in the future. We stand ready to support agencies in both countries with implementation, education and subject matter expertise should we be called upon. ICCPM CONNECT | 11
ACADEMIC IN RESIDENCE
New Thinking About Projects: Organizational Project Management
Cambridge University Press will publish in early 2017 a new research handbook: The Cambridge Handbook of Organizational Project Management (OPM), edited by N. Drouin (UQAM, Montréal, Canada), R. Müller (BI, Oslo, Norway) and S. Shankaran (UTS, Sydney, Australia).
ICCPM Academic-in-Residence, Prof. Stephane Tywoniak
Cambridge University Press will publish in early 2017 a new research handbook: The Cambridge Handbook of Organizational Project Management (OPM), edited by N. Drouin (UQAM, Montréal, Canada), R. Müller (BI, Oslo, Norway) and S. Shankaran (UTS, Sydney, Australia). The handbook is an important milestone for project management research as it is the first major collective publication (some 30 chapters contributed by global academics) to approach projects from an integrative perspective: OPM takes a holistic view of projects and projectbased organisations, and contemplates how to integrate project-related work across functional dimensions, strategically align across portfolios, programs and projects, and across organisational levels: individuals, teams, project organisation, corporation and enterprise (see figure below). Arguably, some of these aims have been around for some time: the innovation is to bring them together into a holistic view, combining multidisciplinary approaches.
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Some of the key words gleaned from a recent summary presentation of the Handbook include: governmentality, complexity, strategic maturity, performativity, ambiguity, uncertainty, stakeholdercentric, practice-oriented. All these themes are relevant to practitioners, and this is intentional. The practice orientation of OPM aims to (re-)connect theory and the daily work and experiences of professionals: project management is what project managers do, not what is expected from “theory”. In doing so, OPM invites scholars and practitioners to reflect on and explore value creating practices beyond the narrow confines of codified bodies of knowledge. The OPM initiative resonates well with many of the views promoted by ICCPM in its publications and reports. This is a welcome sign of convergence between the concerns of practitioners and academics.
BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
ACADEMIC IN IN ACADEMIC RESIDENCE RESIDENCE
Organizational Project Management as an integrative perspective (Drouin, Müller, Sankaran, 2016)
The role of ICCPM Academic-in-Residence is to act as the single point of contact for academics worldwide wishing to engage with ICCPM on research. Prof Tywoniak will have a significant role in fostering collaborative relationships with the academic community, and provide updates on progress and issues to ICCPM Partners and Members on a regular basis.
Prof. Stephane Tywoniak can be contacted via email at academic@iccpm.com
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ICCPM CONNECT | 13
BOOK REVIEW
Book Review:
Ethics and Governance in Project Management: Small Sins Allowed and the Line of Impunity By Eduardo Victor Lopez & Alicia Medina Published By Auerbach Publications Best Practices and Advances in Project Management Series Review by Deborah Hein Deborah Hein is Managing Director and CEO of ICCPM. Deborah has a background in commercial management, contracting and procurement, project and program management of capital acquisitions. She has worked on complex projects and programs throughout her 20 year career in the public sector including a range of capital acquisition projects. The authors have put together a very well structured learning resource that provides a good degree of material to assist learners to become familiar with the topics covered. The publication focusses mainly on the ethics issue and suggests governance as a means to address issues of ethics. This work provides an excellent walk through and historical context of the existing work on ethics and governance in project management. The case studies provide the reader with a useful way of contextualising the information and putting it in a real life and recognisable format. I would have liked to have read a good mix of positive and negative case studies to demonstrate the points around ethics and governance, unfortunately both ethics and governance are often portrayed in a negative context that makes the reading and consideration more difficult or less appealing. The book outlines very effectively the difficulty everyone has when considering ethics in a project environment and provides some good tools and frameworks that can be used when preparing to discuss ethics and governance in projects.
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BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
BOOK REVIEW
The ethics cube is a good way for teams to develop an understanding of what the various faces or elements of ethics are; professional, family, citizen/general, personal/selfish, allegiances and opportunity. It also provides a good metaphor (the shuffled Rubik’s cube) to demonstrate the confusion created when multiple or various ethics elements are present at the same time, which is unavoidable. The book also uses the concepts of Small Sins Allowed (SSA) and the Line of Impunity (LoI) coined by others to test the belief systems and tolerances of interviewees. SSA is a powerful tool that helps managers establish a level above which adherence to ethical standards is expected. LoI aids managers in identifying ethical fault lines that may exist in a company and helps to keep unethical behavior in check.
The use of this technique provides an interesting insight into human behaviour that is well worth the read. For mine this provides further demonstration of the need in all projects for standards, codes of conduct and/or team charters (whatever is best fit) to be developed based on the organisation or institutional requirements, team composition, and project needs. This is a key project artefact that enables the team to know what is expected of them and what they should expect from others. Another good resource for the project management community facilitated by the Taylor & Francis Group.
Do you have something to say about complexity, projects, programs, people, or research? If you would like to be included in future editions of CONNECT, contact us with your suggestions and abstracts. CONNECT is published quarterly in March, June, September and December. Deadline for submissions is the 1st of each publishing month. admin@iccpm.com
You can view previous editions of CONNECT by visiting our Resources page BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
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Coaching Engineers as Future Leaders - How I coached an Organisational Psychologist and Research Officer into building a taller structure than Construction Engineers... By Patrick Albina Patrick is passionate about helping today’s current and emerging leaders unlock their full potential. He helps them to become more effective by being less reliant on certainty and leveraging the opportunities afforded by the constantly changing world around them. Patrick is a Principal Consultant, an Executive Coach, and is one of a small number of practitioners specialising in the field of complexity and systems thinking. With more than 25 years of experience, Patrick enables leaders, managers and team members to unlock their potential through a mindset shift, which makes it possible to operate effectively in the grey space of decision-making. The state of flux that our world is experiencing was profoundly illustrated to me during a recent networking event at my daughters’ school when the Principal highlighted, “…the Preppie (Kindergarten) intake this year is our class of 2028. Our curriculum, teaching methods and personal development techniques must innovatively prepare them for professions that are currently unknown to us.” The disruptive effect of readily available and affordable technology alone has opened up innumerable possibilities that the current generation of leaders may never thought imaginable in our lifetimes. However, to a younger generation of leaders, these possibilities are merely a norm and the societal interconnectedness that technology affords is an intrinsic part of their lives. This enables them to view the world with fresh perspectives and allows them to engage globally however they want, whenever they want and for whatever reasons they want. With an abundance of creative potential ahead of them, how can we prepare and equip the future generation of leaders to navigate this world of constant flux, uncertainty and opportunity?
16 | ICCPM CONNECT
Image supplied byPatrick Albina
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I helped to design and deliver an innovative program at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) with support from Engineers Australia – College of Leadership & Management Queensland (EA-CLMQ).
“We took on the challenge of equipping future leaders with the basic skills to navigate this world – we called it, ‘Harnessing the Power of Teams’. “ The program was designed to equip 4th year Construction Engineers with leadership skills derived from solution focused coaching methodology. It was underpinned by complexity principles that introduced a growth mindset necessary to deal with the uncertainties and ambiguities experienced in the workplace and, in the process, sought to enhance their employability skills. Through a combination of interactive workshop learning, task-based activities, and ongoing coaching and development support, the program provided them with realistic experiences in developing people and teams, fostering collaboration and being adaptable as the environment around them changed. It prepared them for the challenges that they will face when entering the workforce for the very first time. To demonstrate the power of coaching I challenged the 4th year Construction Engineers to a short ‘design & build’ competition based on the well known ‘Marshmallow Challenge’. I placed the 4th year Construction Engineers against the teaching team consisting of Organisational Psychologists and Research Officers. There was one exception…I coached the teaching team in the true sense of coaching, i.e., I was not allowed to offer solutions and I could only ask questions related to their thinking around the design & build process. After 20 minutes…success for the teaching team! As for the budding Construction Engineers… well they gave it a good shot but unfortunately their grand designs were unable to stand unaided and therefore failed the success criteria. It was, however, a very profound way of demonstrating the power of coaching to the 4th year Construction Engineers.
BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
The Marshmallow Challenge Source: https://c8.staticflickr.com Fresh from their learning, the 4th year Construction Engineers used their newly developed coaching based leadership skills to guide teams of 1st year engineers through their assessable real-world design and build challenge. The role of the 4th years was not to solve problems that the 1st years encountered – no matter how tempting that was. Rather, it was to facilitate and guide the 1st years through a process of discovery, encouraging them to explore a wide range of options and alternatives that they would have otherwise been unable to identify without a coaching approach. Along the way they experimented with new ideas, worked through issues and learnt from their inevitable failures. Importantly, the ‘4th year leaders as coach’ approach enabled them to create an environment for their teams to engage in ‘serious play’, continually evaluating and adapting their approach with their growing knowledge and newfound insights.
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When designing the program, we coupled the solutions focused coaching approach with some basic principles of complexity in order to leverage the inherent benefits of team diversity, natural ways of working and how small changes could result in large effects, as follows: 1. The Law of Requisite Variety states that in order to properly address complex problems, a repertoire of responses is required that is at least diverse as the problems being faced. Leaders as coach facilitated the exploration and appreciation of the different points of views, thereby enabling the benefits of shared leadership to be realised. The students were taught that highly effective teams are, in fact, rarely in unanimous agreement. They are, however, able to leverage the diversity of their views and construct pathways forward. 2. Emergence is the process that enables the formation and observation of evolving patterns. Human systems such as teams are complex and, over time, ways of working are developed from the cumulative effect of the individual contributors. Leaders as coach fostered emergence by sharing, integrating and mobilising the diverse contributions of their team members, allowing them to evaluate, learn and adapt their way of working to the changing landscape. These outcomes are not attained through deliberate actions, but rather by creating an environment that cultivated a natural system of working. 3. Sensitivity to initial conditions is a powerful change lever. Small, well-placed changes can lead to large effects, creating ripples through the team and/or organisation (similar to the famous ‘butterfly effect’). The power of these small changes is often far more effective than large-scale change programs. Coaching works at the individual level. Leaders as coach challenged their coachees’ mindsets and belief systems. Discovering freedom from the assumptions that constrained them from fully utilising their talents, skills and experiences opened up new possibilities, approaches and pathways that led to bigger and better opportunities.
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Ross Ashby’s Law of Requisite Variety
Why coaching? Well we knew that the essence of solution focused coaching is in its power to identify and co-create a range of options to be explored with the coachee. We provided the 4th year Construction Engineers with a leadership mindset of ‘encouraging others to create solutions’ that challenged the dominant engineering mindset of ‘creating solutions for others’. By asking powerful questions, we encouraged the coaches to invite the coachee into a dialogue of clarity, discovery and action at a whole new level that revealed a range of potential pathways that were previously unrecognised and/or unexplored. The constructive nature of solutions focused coaching is derived from positive psychology. We adopted this approach with a view to overcoming the coachee’s personal and professional challenges that they face in everyday life by leveraging the their values, strengths, virtues, talents and skills.
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ARTICLES
Coaching enables this by: • Exploring and appreciating the challenges we face from a variety of perspectives • Creating an environment solutions to emerge
that
allows
• Appreciating when to take deliberate action and knowing when to allow a natural evolution of events to occur • Leveraging small changes for a big impact through a process of co-creation
Some salient points relating to successfully engaging the 1st year engineers were raised by the 4th year Construction Engineers upon completion of the program. They are worthy of mention, as follows: • The power of reciprocation. Clearly articulating the way in which the 1st years could help the 4th years to practice their coaching skills encouraged the 1st years to be more receptive to the idea of being coached. The reciprocation of ‘support’ between 1st and 4th years was the stimulus for mutual exchange and building the coaching relationship. • Creating the opportunity of ‘happenstance’. Being mindful of 1st year workloads and headspace was important in creating coachable moments and happenstance conversations. Organising additional meetings specific to coaching was met with resistance by the 1st years, however, 4th year coaches were far more successful when attending existing 1st year meetings, i.e., making themselves available for opportunistic questions and discussion. • …what technical problems? The nature of challenges faced by the 4th years was mainly associated with team engagement and managing interpersonal conflict, there were comparatively few technical problems experienced.
What is really exciting and hopeful about the solutions focused coaching approach is the affirmation that transformative change can emerge from very small shifts in behaviour.
• Leadership and Coaching ain’t easy. The 4th years discovered that ‘giving orders’ is the quickest way to distance themselves from decisions. Eliciting others to help themselves achieve goals is not easy. The 4th years quickly discovered that leadership and coaching takes hard work.
References 1
https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower?language=en
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ICCPM NETWORK
ICCPM FELLOW PROFILE Rod Equid (Australia) Rod Equid is the Chief Executive Officer of the Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) Alliance, the organisation charged with delivering Australia’s next generation warships. The Hobart Class AWD project is the largest Defence project ever undertaken in Australia and is being executed under an Alliance contract framework. As CEO, Rod represents the interests of the three partner organisations: the Defence Materiel Organisation, ASC and Raytheon Australia, collaborating to achieve project outcomes. The AWD project has successfully passed Critical Design Review and is the construction phase. Seconded from Raytheon Australia to his current role, Rod has been active in the defence industry for 15 years following a career of 20 years with the Department of Defence both as a serving member and a Defence civilian. During his earlier career, Rod became a highly regarded test and evaluation specialist focussed on flight test as well as both stores and software certification. He was instrumental in establishing new test and certification techniques to support the introduction of software intensive aerospace systems into service. Rod also managed international test programs conducted at the Woomera range and was awarded the D. J. Knights trophy in recognition of his achievements in flight test. Rod joined the defence industry with an SME organisation that was subsequently acquired by Raytheon. He has been pivotal in the growth of Raytheon Australia as a past member of the company’s senior management team over the period the company has grown from humble beginnings in Australia 10 years ago to its current position as a trusted partner of the Australian Defence organisation. Rod has fulfilled roles in business development, business leadership and complex project management. A key member of the AWD team since December 2005, Rod initially worked as the Raytheon executive representative during establishment of the System Design Centre in Adelaide and was soon selected to lead the “Evolved Design Team”. During Phase 2 of the project he and his team worked to mature a new ship design identifying cost, schedule and risk which was presented to the Australian Government as one of two options considered for Phase 3 of the AWD project. This activity contributed to establishing the current day culture of cooperation between the partners in the AWD Alliance. Rod holds a Masters of Science in Aerosystems Engineering from Loughborough University of Technology, UK and was awarded the Royal United Institute prize for academic achievement during his associated studies. This complemented a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Honours) from Monash University and his broad range of technical and leadership learning undertaken throughout a career of more than 30 years in the defence domain.
“National and international trends are for increasingly complex project undertakings in an era of fiscal constraint with an overarching mantra of “do more for less”. I am delighted to have this opportunity to participate with peers as a member of the ICCPM Fellowship Program where the collaborative efforts engendered by the ICCPM community enable championship of effective approaches to management of today’s complex projects; in my view a combination of stewardship, team-work, technical leadership and structured application of PM tools and resources.”
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ICCPM NETWORK
ICCPM FELLOW PROFILE Jude Olson (USA) Jude Olson is an accredited, professional coach providing leadership and transition coaching to individuals, teams and organizations—building on strengths for accelerated development. She is certified by the International Coaching Federation and qualified in assessments including Appreciative Coaching, Voices 360°, via EDGE™ and MBTI Step II. A special focus is helping adults to positively navigate mid-life reinvention. She currently serves on the faculty of University of Dallas, Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business, teaching “Emotional Intelligence for Effective Leadership” and “Managing Complex Organizations.” She coaches in the Texas Christian University EMBA program. As Head Coach for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, in Fort Worth, TX, she was recognized for innovation in coaching and change consulting. Jude also spent six years with Drake Beam Morin, Inc., an international consulting firm specializing in career transition and corporate restructuring activities. As a Senior Vice President and Regional Consulting Partner, she led the Fort Worth office where she marketed, managed and consulted on change projects within a variety of industries. She has been an organization development consultant for Mervyn’s corporate headquarters in California and an independent consultant in Texas. A native of Pennsylvania, she earned a B.S. in Journalism and M.Ed in Counseling Psychology from Temple University; and a Ph.D. in Human and Organization Systems from Fielding Graduate University. She published in the Elsevier book on Complex Collaboration (2004) and “Inventing the Joint Strike Fighter—Applying Appreciative Inquiry to Collaborative Startups” in the OD Network Journal and as an E-Book (2013). “I am proud to claim my entry into the ICCPM forum through my work as a Senior Organization Development consultant for 17 years supporting the startup of one of the most complex— and compelling—projects in the aerospace industry: the F-35 program at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, Texas. It began my journey into researching and applying complexity concepts to leadership and international collaboration. I have guest lectured at QUT’s Executive Master of Business in Complex Project Management (EMCPM) in Canberra, AU and been published in the Elsevier book on Complex Collaboration (2004). The case study, “Inventing the Joint Strike Fighter—Applying Appreciative Inquiry to Collaborative Startups” was published in the OD Practitioner Journal (2005) and as an E-Book (2013) by ICCPM. I hope to contribute to the translation of complexity concepts to new tools and frameworks for the future. I want to build a ‘bridge’ from academia to applied practice— for both experienced executives and emerging leaders. “ ICCPM Fellows are recognised as highly credible and successful Program Managers with a proven track record in the field of Complexity in Project Management. They are opinion leaders in the field of managing complex projects across all sectors and have extensive networks of influential thinkers. Fellows are identified by their peers as a professional program manager who is held in the highest regard in the project management community. Their personal involvement in some of the most complex projects and programs in the world provides demonstrable evidence of meeting all the criteria to be invited to become a Fellow of ICCPM. Fellows can only be nominated by existing Fellows or ICCPM Directors and are assessed by the ICCPM Board as being suitable or otherwise. More information is available on the ICCPM website and we will profile individual Fellows in future editions of the CONNECT Magazine.
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ICCPM NETWORK
MEMBER PROFILE With over 15 years’ experience primarily in Engineering and Program Management, Gregg Bohan is a Program Manager specialising in the delivery of complex, real-time, safety critical systems development and integration programs. As the Underwater Systems Programme Manager, WA for Thales’s Underwater Systems business line, Gregg is currently responsible for leading the operational, technical and strategic direction for the portfolio of Thales UWS programs in Western Australia. Gregg began his career in 2000 as a Software Engineer for Australian Defence Industries (ADI) with a primary focus on the design and development of Naval Combat Management Systems. Over the last 10 years, Gregg has held senior program management roles within the Above Water Systems, Air Traffic Management and Under Water Systems business lines of Thales Australia. A significant proportion of this period was committed to the design, development and delivery of the Combat Management System software for the RAN’s Adelaide Class Frigate (FFG) Upgrade Program (SEA1439). Subsequent projects have included leading the Software Segment for a complex Air Traffic Management program, R&D focused on the integration of UAVs into Combat Systems, Military Vehicle Health and Usage Monitoring systems and Maritime Command & Control (C2) Product Management as part of a Thales global business line. A common challenge for each of the programs has been the interaction of multi-disciplinary geographically disparate teams where effective communication, integration and leadership at all levels contributed to their successful delivery. Gregg holds a Bachelor of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, a Masters of Project Management and is a professionally certified Project Manager with AIPM the IPMA.
BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP • Member events
• Early notification of ICCPM events
• Access to the Digital Gateway
• Discounts on ICCPM courses and events
• Networking opportunities
• Access to research, communications and information reserved for ICCPM members
• Access to the online Member Forum to interact with other members
• Opportunity to contribute to the ICCPM eBook series
• Opportunity to contribute to ICCPM sponsored research
• Access to free books (in exchange for a book review)
• Monthly Member Bulletin
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ICCPM NETWORK
MEMBER PROFILE Peter Terwee has over 30 years’ experience in the public and private sector ICT industry, and more recently in Capability Delivery. Peter’s experience spans all areas of capability delivery including governance, strategic planning, program/project delivery and operations. Peter has worked in various technical, management and senior executive roles and he considers Complex Program and Project Management and Strategic Procurement his primary areas of expertise Peter has successfully implemented and supported a large number of ICT solutions for Defence and multiple government agencies. Peter is able to support those initiatives using intelligently applied best practice program/project management, ICT service management and governance and relationship management techniques. Peter is currently the Assistant Secretary Program Management in the Performance Management Division within the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG). Peter is responsible for the Program Management and Decision Support Centres of Expertise (CoEs). These CoEs span the full capability life cycle (from Pre Gate 0 to Disposal) and assure or enable CASG delivery of Defence Capability. Services and assurance Peter is responsible for include facilitating government project approvals, performance reporting, acquisition and sustainment agreements, Independent Assurance Reviews, Smart Buyer process, Program-Project-Product (Sustainment) Management Services, Project Control Services – such as estimation, cost, schedule and risk and trusted information management/decision support. Prior to joining Defence Peter was the Coordinator Reporting and Analytics for the Australian Federal Police, has worked as a consultant Project Manager for the Aviation Security Identity Card project, and held a number of project management and consulting roles with various Government agencies including earlier Defence experiences. Peter’s tertiary qualifications include an Executive Masters in Complex Project Management, a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Procurement and an Associate Diploma in Computing. Peter enjoys playing both social and competitive tennis.
MEMBERSHIP Welcome to our new members: Peter Beven QUT, Australia Brad Francis Department of Defence, Australia Robert Fraser Tomahawk Innovative Business Solutions Pty Ltd, Australia
BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
David Gordon Australia Ben Howard Department of Defence, Australia Olivia Hutchinson Boeing, Australia Michael Spencer Department of Defence, Australia
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LINKS & EVENTS
CALENDAR 7 February 2017 Australian Defence Magazine Congress Canberra, Australia 7 - 9 February 2017 Konnect Learning - Driving Regulatory Reform Forum Canberra, Australia 14 - 15 February 2017 Lead through Organisational Complexity Course Melbourne - Australia 7 - 9 March 2017 Identify and Respond to Complexity in Project Environments Course Canberra, Australia 28 - 30 March 2017 Identify and Respond to Complexity in Project Environments Course Adelaide, Australia
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4 - 6 April 2017 Identify and Respond to Complexity in Project Environments Course Melbourne Australia 10 - 12 April 2017 Identify and Respond to Complexity in Project Environments Course Sydney Australia 2 - 4 May 2017 Project Governance & Controls Symposium Canberra, Australia 23 - 25 May 2017 Identify and Respond to Complexity in Project Environments Course Brisbane
BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
LINKS & EVENTS
What Does it Mean to “Do the Right Thing?” Linda Fisher Thornton
Never Underestimate The Power of Trust Linda Fisher Thornton
Management by Wandering Around (MBWA) Mind Tools Editorial Team
Leaders: Can Rights and Responsibilities Be Separated? Linda Fisher Thornton
Great Leaders Are Other-Focused Linda Fisher Thornton
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MERRY CHRISTMAS !
In the March edition... • News • Academic-in-Residence • Articles • Book Reviews • Fellows Profile • Member Profiles and much more! 26 | ICCPM CONNECT
BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
PARTNERS
ICCPM also recognises the support of the following organisations: AIPM APM APM Group ARPI CSIRO DAU Gower Publishing University of Hull
BUILDING CAPABILITY IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
Hudson IACCM IPMA MinterEllison The PM Channel SEGroup SKEMA
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