Human Systems Engineering™ – A Trilogy, Part III

Managing Projects Successfully

in a World of Uncertainty

ADVISORY ARTICLE

By William M. Hayden Jr., PhD

New York, USA

Abstract

In 1980, Dr. W. Edwards Deming said on NBC television, “If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?.” This became the force behind the quality movement.

About 1985, the Engineering/Architecture/Construction (E/A/C) industry learned from US federal and some US state agencies that project proposals with Quality Assurance (QA) plans were required or their submittals would not be considered.

While supporting E/A/Cs firms to first understand and then implement their organization and project quality system. . . . QC/QA/QM. . . I learned these firms had common challenges:

1. 1. At least 60% of their firm’s projects failed to meet contract requirements and,
   2. Technical expertise had little to do with that failure.

Part I of the Trilogy, “Elephant in The Living Room,^[1]” identified the following major conclusions:

1. 1. Project outcomes routinely are lower than those expected by major stakeholders.
   2. Organization’s management of their projects allow significantly lower project results.
   3. The main root cause that restrained project success was non-technical.

Part II of the Trilogy, “May The Force Be With You: Anatomy of Project Failures^[2]” identified the following major conclusions:

1. 1. Lack of education, training, and development for engineers to collaborate, cooperate and communicate creates fertile ground for conflict during project interactions.
   2. The US ASEE/LEAD approved educational programs do not prepare technically capable engineers entering the workforce “How to play nice with others.”
   3. The level of psychological safety within a project/program/organization has a direct impact on the willingness to call for a “Project Phase Gate Review.”

A systems approach is needed to lead and manage organizations and projects successfully.

Keywords:   Systems Thinking, Silos, Re-Engineering, Socio Mores, Analytic Thinking, Synthesis

1.0 Introduction

Engineers and technicians are expert in technical matters. The absence of an organizational cultural embodiment of “Systems Thinking” allows failures due to incorrect assumptions, communication, and the design of equipment and plant for maintainability. Domains of human factor errors include work quality, decision-making errors, and organizational culture.

1. 1. “Would you study a single tree to understand a rain forest?”
   2. Time to go beyond linear thinking.

The E/A/Cs Organizational “Rain Forest”

The control of the above “Constants” rests with the occupants of the C-Suites. They may either continue or change such as they wish. The “Variables” are requirements to be adhered to by employees below executive levels. All of the above constants and variables constitute the system of management within which project work is done.

Dr. Russell Ackoff has stated “It is silly to look for an optimal solution to a mess. It is just as silly to look for an optimal plan. Rather we should be trying to design and create a process that will enable the system involved to make as rapid progress as possible towards its ideals, and to do so in a way which brings immediate satisfaction, and which inspires the system to continuous pursuit of its ideals ^[3]”

“Systems Thinking” will provide new perspectives when planning, designing, and incorporating your system’s feedback loops, as well as critical changes in attitudes and behaviors from the C-Suites to the plant floor.

More…

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How to cite this paper; Hayden, Jr., W (2025). Human Systems Engineering™ – A Trilogy, Part III: Managing Projects Successfully in a World of Uncertainty, featured paper, PM World Journal, Vol. XIV, Issue IX, September.  Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/pmwj156-Sep2025-Hayden-Human-Systems-Engineering-Part-III.pdf

About the Author

Dr. William M. Hayden, Jr.

New York, USA

William M. Hayden Jr. holds a A.A.S. degree in Highway and Bridge Construction Technology, B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering and a Ph.D. degree in Engineering Management. He was inducted into Chi Epsilon and Tau Beta Pi. He also holds a CMQ/OE certificate and was a Registered Professional Engineer from 1970 to 2006. With over 35 years of experience in project management, he has successfully overseen projects of varying sizes and complexities. From 1985 to 1997 he provided consulting quality management services to E/A/C private and public sectors organizations across the US, Canada, and parts of Mexico, Porto, Budapest, Riyadh, Tokyo, Seoul, and Manila. He was the COO for an E/A/C professional services firm with leadership and management responsibility for 130 persons across 3 Regional Offices, also as the Senior Partner, Human Resources. From 1998 to 2024 he was adjunct assistant professor in the University at Buffalo School of Management, teaching graduate courses in Project Management and Strategic Quality Management.

Dr. Hayden can be contacted at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-m-hayden-jr-phd/

[1] ASCE Leadership and Management in Engineering, April 2004, p.61-71
[2] ASCE Leadership and Management in Engineering, January 2006, p.1-11
[3] Ackoff, RL (1977). “Optimization + Objectivity = Optout,” Euro JOpl Res 1: 1–7.