A Spectrum of Case Studies
SECOND EDITION
By Dr. Arden Dudek
North Texas, USA
Introduction
The joy of project management is that it encompasses the art and science of leading stakeholders to a common goal. Best practices and a toolbox of transferable skills are available to assess and improve how leaders organize, prioritize, and deliver measurable outcomes even in challenging or diverse planning environments. Skilled Project Management Professionals (PMPs) know how to balance changes to the scope, schedule, or risks while delivering the highest value at the fastest pace possible. As experienced PMPs share our successes and challenges, we can learn to adapt our organizational planning transformations to better meet the needs of our unique stakeholders, whether those planning organizations use predictive, agile, hybrid, or even ad hoc planning processes. One framework that has positively impacted my organizational teams is a tipping point leadership model (Kim & Mauborgne, 2003).
In this article, I begin by providing an overview of tipping point leadership. Next, I share three case studies for the reader’s consideration. Not only do I provide an overview of the organizational planning constraints and improvements, but also reflective questions. These organizations include a small non-profit, a public research university, and a large corporate environment. I hope that the readers will glean practical considerations when managing their next project, program, portfolio, or organizational planning transformation for Project Management Offices (PMOs), Scaled Agile teams, or less formal planning structures. The readers will also benefit from considering the references suggested throughout the article.
Tipping Point Leadership
I became aware of tipping point leadership during my doctoral studies of higher education administration where I was also beginning a PMO transformation at the same university. This leadership model is based on the well-known theory of tipping points and its roots in epidemiology. Kim and Mauborgne explain that “it hinges on the insight that in any organization, once the beliefs and energies of a critical mass of people are engaged, conversion to a new idea will spread like an epidemic, bringing about fundamental change very quickly.” (2003)
As I processed this information, I pictured a teeter-totter from childhood like that in Figure 1.
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Editor’s note: Second Editions are previously published papers that have continued relevance in today’s project management world, or which were originally published in conference proceedings or in a language other than English. Original publication acknowledged; authors retain copyright. This paper was originally presented at the 16th Project Management Symposium at the University of Texas at Dallas in May 2024. It is republished here with the author’s permission.
How to cite this paper: Dudek, A. (2025, 2024). Finding the Tipping Point to Improved Project Management: A Spectrum of Case Studies; Originally presented at the 16th Project Management Symposium at the University of Texas at Dallas in May 2024, republished in the PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue VI, June 2025. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/pmwj153-Jun2025-Dudek-Finding-the-Tipping-Point-to-improved-project-management-2nd-ed-1.pdf
About the Author
Dr. Arden Dudek
Texas, USA
Dr. Arden Dudek is the Founder and Principal Planner of Planning Management Consulting LLC, where she guides organizations to achieve strategic alignment from the C-suite to project teams, ensuring effective stakeholder benefits. As a certified member of the John Maxwell Leadership Team, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in values-based leadership development. With a passion for continuous learning and a knack for gathering versatile theories and techniques, Dr. Arden excels in coaching leaders and teams to achieve higher value at a faster pace. She specializes in maturing Project Management Offices by 30% and consulting on the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).
Dr. Arden successfully launched and directed PMOs in Banking and Higher Education. She also led a Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) Work Request process for Wall Street’s largest, most successful Merger and Acquisition. Her Agile team managed priorities and trade-offs of 150+ requests for $12M of IT work not originally scoped for the integration within 18 months.
Dr. Arden published her higher education administration dissertation, Exploring University Project Management Presence as Related to Organizational Models, and contributed to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)—Fourth Edition. At Planning Management Consulting LLC, she collaborates with CIOs and Directors of PMOs to navigate strategic priorities. She helps mature businesses that are ready to scale and provides expert project management and leadership solutions. Dr. Dudek helps you clarify your strategy, prioritize your projects, and build teams of servant leaders.
Dr. Dudek can be contacted at ArdenDudek@PlanningMgmtConsulting.com
