Mastering Project Uncertainty: A Systems Thinking Approach

Uncertainty permeates every thinkable aspect of project work and mastering information awareness and availability is the key to controlling benefits, budgets, and timelines. This book offers a theoretical framework and practical guidelines to systematically minimize uncertainty, thereby increasing the chances of project success.

To paraphrase Henry Ford, transitioning from traditional risk management to mastering project uncertainty implies abandoning the quest for faster horses in favor of driving cars toward your project’s destination. This book presents the road map to this transition, with Part I providing a theoretical foundation for uncertainty management using systems thinking. Part II introduces strategies supported by practical techniques to master uncertainty through:

1. Raising information awareness
2. Increasing information availability
3. Improving the effective use of information
4. Maximizing information efficiency

This book’s combined theoretical and highly practical approach, is essential reading for scholars, academics, business leaders, project managers, strategists, and policymakers to bring the organization’s vision for a sustainable future to life.

Paul Cuypers is an experienced and certified program-, project-, change-, and test manager, agile coach, and independent researcher working in Norway. Over the years, he has engaged in defense, industrial, banking, shipping, and IT-related projects. He is an international speaker and course instructor on project methodology, Power Kanban, agile rolling wave planning, capability thinking, and uncertainty management. He enjoys developing next-generation project management techniques and is passionate about creating the supporting theoretical models.