Projects, why so complex?

“Projects have displaced operations as the economic engine of our times, but despite the shift, many leaders still undervalue project management”

As a healthcare technologist, I witness a growing array of ambitious projects. Each staking claim on a desired future state bound by a unique combination of technology, talent, and strategy. With the cycle of technology change accelerating and aggressive competitive positioning for a post COVID-19 world, the core question becomes: can we do better?

In this month’s Harvard Business Review, in the article Make Megaprojects More Modular, Brent Flyvberg, Professor at Oxford’s Business School, brings forward his research on large scale projects for the last 30 years. The author highlights the wisdom of Tesla, Planet Labs, Madrid, and wind farms to make the case for more discrete, rapid cycle projects.

I believe this research work is particularly relevant for the healthcare industry as we face headwinds in growing project complexity in part from data integration, synchronized workflows, and emerging digital/ IOT technologies.

As noted in the article, modularity and speed are critical success factors delivering value quicker with significantly less risk.

To start, breaking the work down allows adapting solutions with a constant feedback cycle: “iteration ensures that the quality of delivery constantly improves as you go along”. We are far better at modifying and tweaking existing solutions then projecting the end state of the product: “humans are inherently good at experimenting and learning, which is why a venture based on modular replicability is more likely to succeed than one that depends on long range planning and forecasting- something humans are inherently bad at”.

And pace matters, as an expanding time horizon, or window, is seldom our friend: “the bigger it is, the more bad stuff can fly through it, including unpredictable catastrophic events”.

Steve Schmidt said it well: “create a product, ship it, see how well it does, design and implement improvements, and push it back out. The companies that are the fastest at this process will win” This process is known as smart scaling or agile delivery.

This article appeared alongside of a recent reread of Antifragile by Nassim Taleb. ?He makes the argument that simple is more sophisticated; “less is more and usually more effective” And simplicity is revealing, reduces opacity, and ultimately risk: ”We notice what varies and changes more than what plays a larger role but doesn't change”. This book is always worth the read, again and again.

As we work to reimagine healthcare through new consumer-centered experiences, predictive models using AI/ML, process/ robotic automation, and improving equity/ access among others, projects will continue to be our way of life. Can we get better at the practicing the craft? The lessons learned here clearly suggest our project work needs to move ahead simpler, faster, better, and with a lot less risk.

Our success may depend on how quickly we learn and apply these teachings . . . ?

Enjoy the read!