Does size matter?

Some people think that big projects are more difficult.  I have certainly had some very tough large projects.  However, I have also seen even more difficult small change projects.  I therefore argue that complexity rather than size is the key factor in assessing the difficulty of a change project.

Any change can be complex, as complexity in a problem is usually determined by numbers of:

• people and organisations involved
• processes changed
• requirements identified
• dependencies involved
• components in the technology
• degrees of freedom of those components

Many people do not recognise the characteristics of complex projects.  Some to consider include:

• Leaders must "declare the future" and "model the way"
• Resistance to change is magnified by complexity causing confusion
• There are no simple optimisations, and no right way to do it
• Early. access to and agreement of information is critical to success
• Adding more people does not always help
• There is never enough testing

I will address these and others in future posts.   The most important thing is this... Never believe that you can hold a complex change project in your head, plan every action and foresee every outcome.  Complex change requires strong teams backed by an organisation and process response.  Small project thinking and experience does not always translate.