Data, Information, Knowledge, and Leadership in Complex Project Management

Abstract

Challenges of complexity in project management have three dimensions: the scale of the project and supporting enterprise along with the variety of organizational disciplines, processes, and tools that might be used to execute the project; the external context the project is surrounded by, including social and political factors and market dynamics; and the uncertainties created by newness, originality, and innovation. As project complexity increases, the role of knowledge transfer in social networks becomes more critical, and the ability to visualize knowledge (as opposed to information) becomes paramount to project success. Success in complex project management comes from the role of human management and decision-making which drives a complex project from inception to completion. The relationship between knowledge transfer and project success, combined with dimensions of project complexity, requires different ways to visualize and manage the dynamics of a complex project. This paper summarizes a framework that relates knowledge transfer, project complexity, and improved decision making for project success. The framework is derived from theories in the systems thinking and complexity thinking domains, then linked to how project managers visualize and then communicate data, information, and knowledge.