The paradox of project planning

Abstract:

The paradox of project planning is a project management tool, that illustrates time, knowledge, and decisions.

Uncertainty, the significance of decisions, and the degree of freedom to make decisions are typically high at the beginning of the project, and low in the end. Accumulated cost and availability information have a reverse development through the project, beginning at a low level and ending at a high level (1).

The biggest decisions are often made at the start of the project whit the least knowledge. Early decisions will have a huge impact on the project, and will most likely determine the success or the failure of the whole project (2).

The goal of the paradox of project planning is to compress the gap between the decision and knowledge curve as best as possible (3), delay decisions, and learn faster, so that the decisions are made with increased knowledge (4).

• Delay decisions • Learn Faster • Fail early; fail often

Application:

Limitations:

References: 1. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/front-end-project-management-success-7998 2. https://fieldscale.com/blog/design-engineers-paradox/ 3. http://www.418qe.com/uffe-albaek-speaks-at-dwd 4. https://beyond-agility.com/project-paradox/