Resisting the Complicated in Project Management

Project Management is unnecessarily Complicated

Complicated sells. It's a notion that's been exploited extensively by the project management industry. The allure of a new methodology, software, or framework, complete with its own specialized language, can be tempting. It promises control, precision, and success. Yet, the reality often falls short. The tools and terminologies designed to streamline projects, paradoxically, make them more cumbersome.

The allure of complexity in project management is not just a matter of solutioning. It's deeply rooted in the psychological desire for control. When project environments become intricate, with multiple variables and processes at play, they offer refuge for project managers. A feeling that they can control the outcome itself, regardless of the territory.

But it's not the intricacy of our plans but their clarity and applicability that determine success.

The difference between Complicated and Complex

An iPhone is complex, but it's designed to be uncomplicated.

Complex is a scale. Complexity is when something has a lot of interconnected parts. Where the rules of the game are governed by many variables. The more interconnected parts, the more complexity. Complex is a characteristic which something inherently has or hasn't. Something can be complex and still be worth your effort.

Meanwhile, complicated is a choice. It is unnecessary complexity borne of action. It's when a process is too cumbersome, too bureaucratic, has too much friction. Project Management often chooses the latter to compound the former.

The lure of Complicated in Projects

It's Easier

The paradox of complicated, is that it feels easier to push towards complex where it doesn't exist. It allows us to focus on the little things instead of dealing with one larger truth. Talking about the nuances of a stakeholder management process is easy. Talking about the behaviors of trust and effective relationship building is hard.

As described in Farnam Street:

In the flight or fight response, complexity bias is the flight response. It is a means of turning away from a problem or concept and labelling it as too confusing.

Our brains push us to add first and ask questions later. Leidy Klotz, Gabrielle Adams, and Benjamin Converse investigated addition bias in their research. It highlighted that people default to additive solutions in various problem-solving contexts. They asked participants to balance lego structures in one experiment. And in another to make symmetrical a pictorial grid. In each of these experiments people often overlooked the more efficient, subtractive solution.

Adding is tempting not just because it's easy. Complex solutions are easier because they signal greater effort, expertise, or value.

It makes you feel in Control

The complicated is deeply rooted in our psychological desire for control. Control is a double edged sword though. When project environments become complex, choosing complicated provides a refuge for project managers. As Morgan Housel writes:

complexity gives a comforting impression of control, while simplicity is hard to distinguish from cluelessness. The more knobs you can fiddle with the more control you feel you have over the situation, because the impression of knowledge increases.

It's a seductive idea. That by adding more, by manipulating various aspects of a project, you can steer it to a successful outcome. Ellen Langer coined this "illusion of control." It's a bias where people overestimate their ability to influence chance outcomes. In one experiment she looked at the role of familiarity in creating a sense of control. She found that people felt they had a higher chance of winning a dice game when they were allowed to throw the dice themselves than when someone else did. The act of participating - or having prior exposure - to similar situations falsely elevated their sense of control over the outcome.

For the project manager. This perception of control, feeds into the notion that the project manager is in charge, deeply knowledgeable and capable.

It's makes you look Smart

In many ways, complicated is the Project Managers friend. A second is that things you don’t understand create a mystique around people who do.

• When things are complicated, it gives everyone an illusion that you understand something they don't. It's hard for people to judge the limits of your knowledge. They're more prone to taking your views at face value.
• When the going gets tough, a complicated project provides refuge from accountability. The facts can be obscured. It's easy to deflect from the real issues.
• When a project succeeds, the project manager is a hero. The complexity of the project amplifies the achievement, of conquering formidable challenges.

That's a win-win-win.

The problem with complicated

In all three of these cases we're prioritizing ourself over the team. We do this because we want to feel in control, because we're afraid and it's easier to do so. Whilst complicated can feel like it will limit your downside. That's not true.

At worst, this can be dangerous to our chances of success. Complicating is a distraction from the things that matter. That create value at the end of a project. It leads to decision paralysis, where the fear of making the wrong move in a complex system prevents timely and effective action. It can also obscure the true nature of problems within a project, making them harder to identify and resolve.

At best, it's unsustainable without a massive amount of personal and organizational effort. Complicated is self-fulfilling loop. Add more work to feel in control. More people required to do the work. More meetings to integrate the people. The committee defaults to creating more work. Meaning, more people are required.

The final and biggest problem with complicated, is that it also limits your upside. By undermining the role of the team in creating a successful outcome, it dilutes accountability. Your playing not to lose, as opposed to win, which is an amateurs game.

There are no points for doing things on hard mode

As we've seen, it’s possible to make the complex, even more complicated. To dilute your and your teams efforts. And that can backfire.

Choosing complicated is putting things on hard mode for the team, and easy mode for yourself. It's a selfish choice, and there are no points gained for playing on hard mode.

The challenge lies is resisting the bias toward complicated. It is to recognize that simplicity, can lead to more effective project outcomes. It requires a shift in perspective, valuing clarity and directness over the false security of complicated. It lacks the veneer of sophistication that complexity carries. But offers a more direct path to value.

So what's the antidote? As John Reed wrote in his book succeeding:

When you first start to study a field, it seems like you have to memorize a zillion things. You don’t. What you need to identify the core principles - generally three to twelve of them - that govern the field. The million things you thought you had to memorize are simply variations combinations of the core principles.

To be a better runner, you need to sleep well, eat well, and - wait for it - run a lot. But that's hard in comparison to calf sleeves, bouncy shoes, and supplements. As for the core principles of Project Leadership, which we'll delve into those in later posts.

Resisting Complicated in Project Leadership

Project leadership is an exercise in resisting the siren call of complicating. It's championing simplicity and clarity, over obfuscation and jargon. It demands an unwavering focus on value first. It's clarity of purpose. It's asking: "How simple can we keep it while achieving our objectives?".

It's recognizing and addressing the real problem, not the easy one. It's making it easy for the team.