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On the Subject of Systems and Project Management

May 30, 2023 By

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

By Bob Prieto

Florida, USA

7 May 2023

Ref: Stretton, A. (2023). The nature of ‘systems’, and some early systems contributions to modern project management, PM World Journal, Vol. XII, Issue V, May. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/pmwj129-May2023-Stretton-Systems-and-contributions-to-project-management.pdf

Dear Editor,

The nature of ‘systems’, and some early systems contributions to modern project management[1] by Alan Stretton is a good summary of the early history of the relationship between “systems” and project management. There are a couple of added points/comments that I feel may be worth mentioning. First with respect to Polaris, PERT and McNamara and second with respect to systems and project management today.

First, Polaris, was in my view a better demonstration of systems thinking as contrasted with the systems engineering we saw in Atlas. Success was underpinned by:

  • Clearly defined, agreed to, and constantly articulated strategic outcome. The absence of clarity and communication of strategic outcomes is characteristic of every failing large complex program I have looked at. Polaris had the requisite clarity.
  • Clarity of understanding and engaging in a multi-stakeholder environment (White House; Congressional Committees; DOD, Navy and other governmental organizational elements).
  • Understanding the importance and value of trust in creating the “power of priorities” that comes with the reputation of the organization for accomplishment.
  • A sustained focus on governance, not just management, deploying a range of bureaucratic strategies, one of which was managerial innovation which served to protect the program from outside interference. PERT sat here, more as a governance-related strategy than a managerial one.
  • A range of managerial innovations including:
    • Outcomes focus (Navy ballistic missile capability) versus an output focus (hardware)
    • Integrated management control system that focused decision making on program costs in relationship to program performance.
    • Full system life cycle focus

More…

To read entire Letter to the Editor, click here

How to cite this work: Prieto, R. (2023). On the Subject of Systems and Project Management, Letter to the Editor, PM World Journal, Vol. XII, Issue VI, June. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/pmwj130-Jun2023-Prieto-on-systems-and-project-management-Letter-to-Editor.pdf

[1] Stretton, A. (2023). The nature of ‘systems’, and some early systems contributions to modern project management, PM World Journal, Vol. XII, Issue V, May.  

Filed Under: Letters to the Editor