The Heisenberg Principle: A Case for Project Assurance

Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is linked to one of the most fundamental concepts in quantum physics, the observer effect. This tells us that it is impossible to observe anything without having some kind effect on it. For example, in order to observe an electron, a photon must interact with it, thereby changing the course of that electron. Similarly, and more tangibly, it is almost impossible to take a tyre’s pressure without letting out some of the air, thereby also changing it.

We have seen a similar effect in the various project assurance and assessment services we conduct for our clients at p3m global. Many of us are familiar with the feeling of having to madly get project documentation up to date if we have been told that we are being audited. As auditors we have become equally adept at spotting documentation that has been hastily cobbled together and have factored this behaviour into our scoring criteria. There is no getting around this principle so we have to expect it and deal with it. More interesting, however, is the longer-term effect of this principle on the organisations we work with.

For over 4 years now we have run a global project auditing service on an outsourced basis for one of our clients. Over this period we have collected reems of data about project compliance and performance as well as information on root causes of issues etc, all of which we’ve been able to trend over time. Interestingly, we’ve noted that when enthusiasm for the audit programme was at its peak around 2015, projects were scoring significantly higher but as fewer audits have been conducted throughout 2016/17 scores have been declining, along with overall project maturity. There is obviously a simple Heisenberg correlation here but one which has a direct impact on things like rework, business risk, customer satisfaction for our client’s customers, and, ultimately, the margins they are deriving from their project portfolio. Simply through regular observation we have a material influence on these things.

On a similar theme from daily life there is a wider trend recently in people using wearable devices or smartphone apps to track health metrics such as minutes of exercise or calorie intake. Many users of these services attest that the act of physically tracking or observing what you eat or how many steps you have taken makes the achievement of your goals more likely, as you are more conscious what is going into or is being burned by your body. Again, by through regular measurement comes improvement.

At an organisational level the same premise applies. We have conducted more and more organisational level maturity assessments over the past few years, specifically using the certified P3M3 framework, and from doing this we have noticed something else. On occasions where our clients ask us to perform a comprehensive assessment that forms the first step on a journey of improvement (usually to benchmark current maturity and performance levels) we have noticed that conducting the assessment is a crucial part of paving the way for the forthcoming change itself. Engaging key stakeholders as part of the assessment creates a culture of ownership over the change and a sense of expectation of what is to come as well as a desire to be involved and to help shape it. In other words, by using assessment as the first place to start when thinking about improving, the act of assessing in itself fundamentally changes the nature of the entity being assessed and, as we have found, the change is demonstrably for the better.