A social-behavioural approach to project work under uncertainty

Team Collective Intelligence in Dynamically Complex Projects—A Shipbuilding Case

“…By undertaking a longitudinal study in a single organization, we also excluded ourselves from validating our findings with a case from a different organization. Findings of similar behavioral patterns were, however, reported by Vaagen, Borgen et al (2016) in their social network approach to project work at a shipyard with comparable complexities. Moreover, we did identify repetitive patterns of events in the same organization, which allowed the validation of the findings in the same sample but at a different time (Van de Ven, 2007).…”

“…At the same time, engineering continued parallel with production, as frequent changes and further details needed to be approved and updated in the drawings. Together with the use of industrial state-of-practice planning and decision-making tools, the changes were underpinned by ongoing judgment, planning, and decision making (Vaagen, Borgen et al, 2016). As an overall result, time was saved in comparison with more linearly executed projects (for more details on this, see Vaagen et al, 2017).…”

“…This research started with our research interest in increasing understanding on how some project teams are better able to handle emergent issues in dynamic environments, often characterized by high task variability in which the teams must adapt to different tasks and requirements (Driskell et al, 2018). Mirroring findings in similar case settings by Emblemsvåg (2014) and Vaagen et al (2016), we found that frequent client input, regulatory interventions on the edge of known technology, and incidents related to logistics and production, brought about a multitude of different issues throughout the project. Above all, the study suggests that dynamically complex projects are sustained through a "functional freedom" to improvise on emergent issues.…”

Famine Has a Name

“…Governments and humanitarian organizations are quick to promise and deliver aid to affected populations. 5 -7 In the 21st Century, natural disasters are much less likely to result in widespread famine. In particular, because natural disasters are not political in nature, help arrives quickly from a wide political spectrum of donors, and includes left-leaning and right-leaning governments.…”