Part 5 - At Some Point,You Have to Deliver
(Part 5 in a series celebrating the 5th anniversary of my book The Complex Project Toolkit. You can catch up on the previous newsletters here)
The last few newsletters have focused on the front half of complexity: the need to connect, listen, learn, hold space and gather all the perspectives together. It is about bringing the right people together and letting the answer emerge.
But at some point, you have to lock down the direction and deliver.
Moving from Connection to Clarity
I reckon connecting is the easy part. You talk to people, gather views, explore what's possible. Yet every conversation adds another perspective, and a pile of opinions can confuse the way forward.
The real art is knowing when to move from consultation to distillation. It’s a judgement call as to when you hit a tipping point where additional input no longer changes the picture.
When you notice the conversations are more to tick boxes and ensure everyone has been involved, rather than to learn something new, you're done.
It is common to end up with too many ideas and you get lost in the diverging opinions. And when faced with competing agendas, it is tempting to revert to your initial idea to clear the cognitive overload.
But you need to extract the gold before moving forward. If you just summarise what you have heard, it lacks coherence. You have to simplify, not summarise, until a framework emerges.
Have you ever had the experience where a naming or a diagram ‘pops’ and now all the bits make sense, and the path forward is clear? That’s where you want to get to in complexity – to find the simple model that feels right, then commit to a course of action.
The paradox is that complexity requires simplicity.
Find a Way
Now you know where you are going, the complexity doesn’t stop. You might’ve bounded the situation, but it will continue to evolve. In the middle of ambiguity, you have to move with purpose and react to what occurs:
Anchor in the outcome: Begin with the final result in mind and work backwards. Continually ask whether this move brings you closer to or further from the target.
Solve for the constraint: Focus on the factor causing friction right now. Is it approvals, a key stakeholder, the investment committee, …?
Move despite uncertainty: Ambiguity always provides a plausible excuse to delay. You learn by doing.
Adapt the approach: Be willing to adjust your tactics and timeline as new facts emerge.
Phil was the design engineer on a project that had gone off the rails once told me, "I don't know how to get there, but I will sweat blood trying to make it happen." Go looking for this disposition in your team and support it to build momentum. I love the expression:
When going through hell, don't stop.
Summary
You can consult and run workshops for as long as you like. At some point, the talking has to become a thing that exists.
Design thinking is a brilliant toolkit for the creative side of projects. Having spent many hours with designers, I know they rarely have the temperament for the grind of getting it done in a constrained, political, sometimes hostile environment. One group of designers I worked on a difficult project described the context as aggressive, argumentative and confronting, and not somewhere they wanted to be.
The secret to delivering in complexity is bringing a designer's mindset without losing the stomach for the grind. You need the creative tools, but you also need the fortitude to make tough decisions and do the heavy lifting.
Because at the end of the day (amidst all the agendas, opinions, and surprises) you still have to deliver.
Coming up in Part 6: What didn’t make it into the book
Want to dive deeper into these ideas?
Download the first section of the book for free at www.kieranduck.com.
Grab a copy on Amazon or email me directly at kieran@kieranduck.com if you would like a signed copy.
