Can You Cut It In
Project and Programme
Management?
1 1 t h O C TO E R , 2 0 1 6
IAN CLARKSON, HEAD OF PPM
Twitter: @QATraining www.qa.com/Twitter
Facebook: @QALtd www.qa.com/Facebook
LinkedIn: QA Ltd www.qa.com/LinkedIn
Human Behaviour
‘’Human rational behaviour is shaped by
a scissors whose blades are the structure
of task environments and the
computational capabilities of the actor”
Herbert A. Simon
Human Behaviour Extended
“Just as one cannot understand how
scissors cut by looking at only one blade,
one will not understand human
behaviour by studying either cognition
or the environment alone“
Gerd Gigerenzer, Gut Feelings
Cognition
Environment
Project and Programme Management
“Just as one cannot understand how
scissors cut by looking at only one blade,
one will not understand how to make
project and programme management
work by either having knowledge of the
subject or the organisational
environment alone“
PPM
Knowledge
Organisational
Environment
PPM Knowledge
Organisation – Cultural ‘Legacy’
 Tipping Point
 Blink
 Outliers
 What the Dog Saw
 David & Goliath
Success = Talent x Hard Work x
Cultural
Legacy
Opportunity x PPM
Maturity
Malcolm Gladwell
Overcoming Cultural ‘Legacy’
 Is project and programme management recognised as a
dedicated career path?
 Are the attributes of project and programme managers
recognised as professional skills?
 Are projects and programmes being undertaken by
resources ‘on top of their day jobs’?
 Do you provide the opportunities to ‘improve’ project and
programme management
 What cultural ‘norms’ exist?
“It’s the interaction
between knowledge
and the organisation
that matters"