Systems thinking: A must have project management competency to help you do the right project not just do the project right

In 2017, I took a year-long career break — it gave me the time and breathing space to reflect on my career and skills and figure out what I really wanted to do next.

Naturally, I took some time to think about the projects that didn’t go as well. I always knew it was important to do more than just “do projects right”; I also needed to make sure I was “doing the right project.” I felt confident I could pull together a team, figure out the tasks, map out the sequence and power through from start to finish. The project would get done, but the real question was: did it have the impact we wanted?

I remembered a difficult 18-month service redesign project I’d managed—one that, despite all the effort, could not deliver the real change the customers needed. Then there was another project that ran into trouble when it became clear the organisation's vision couldn’t be achieved without government, academia, private sector organisations and research funders making changes that directly clashed with some people’s vested interests.

Always striving to improve, I decided to use my break to refresh my project management qualifications, but I also wanted to focus on strengthening my strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities, so I’d be better equipped to “do the right project” in the future. Then, by chance, I came across the Open University’s free systems thinking course, which seemed like a good way to help me manage complex projects more effectively and challenge senior managers — after all, it’s usually their ideas driving these changes. I signed up for the OU’s postgraduate Systems Thinking in Practice modules to learn more.

Systems thinking has helped me in three key ways:  

1. Expanded my project management toolkit 

As experienced project professionals, we each carry a toolkit built from formal PM training, hands-on experience, and a good measure of common sense. For me, learning about systems thinking added a whole new dimension to that toolkit. I started to “see” systems more clearly — focusing less on finding a single root cause and more on understanding the relationships and dynamics at play within the system.

I’d never been one for visual diagrams, but over time I came to appreciate tools like causal loop diagrams and cluster maps. They helped me map out complexity in a way that felt manageable and insightful.

When I returned to work, systems thinking tools and concepts really helped me make sense of my new programme — both within the organisation and in the broader context of the UK criminal justice system. I’m no Picasso, but rich pictures gave me a way to capture and communicate the frustrations, concerns and challenges the programme was designed to address.

2. Avoid traps in conventional thinking 

System archetypes are recurring patterns or common stories that show up in systems over time, and they can help us make sense of similar situations when they happen. One example is a trap often seen in the public sector called "fixes that fail." This happens when a quick fix is put in place to address the symptom, but it doesn’t actually address the underlying problem, so the symptom returns.

Learning about these archetypes and the traps we fall into with conventional thinking helped me understand why some of my projects didn’t have the impact I’d hoped for. It also gave me the tools to call out potential issues to senior management, especially when I spot these traps cropping up again.

3. Appreciate perspectives and worldviews  

Systems thinking also helped me appreciate just how important perspectives and worldviews are to the success of any project. What really stood out to me is that for every project I manage, I bring my own perspective (how things look from my current position) and worldview (how I see the world, regardless of my current position) to the table.

The same goes for the rest of the project team and stakeholders —they each bring their own perspective and worldview. The fun starts when all these different perspectives and worldviews come together to deliver meaningful outcomes.  Systems thinking approaches such as soft systems methodology offer ways to help manage polarised worldviews, resolve differences and find a way forward that everyone can accept. 

After finishing my studies, I wanted to keep learning about systems thinking but wanted to apply it directly in my role. So, I joined the APM’s Systems Thinking Interest Network where I connected with a group of like-minded professionals who are committed to promoting systems thinking within the project management community. Even with our busy day jobs, we were a small team of volunteers who made the time to share our knowledge and experiences to help other project professionals. 

The result of that collaboration is APM’s guide Doing the Right Project: Using a Systems Thinking Approach to Select Successful Projects. It’s aimed at those initiating projects and programmes and I’m especially pleased that we managed to distil a range of approaches into a practical guide. Hopefully, it will inspire other project professionals to keep developing their systems thinking skills and ultimately lead to more successful projects. 

 

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