🕸Systems Engineering: Emergence (Definitions)

"Emergence is the phenomenon of properties, capabilities and behaviours evident in the whole system that are not exclusively ascribable to any of its parts." (Derek Hitchins, "Advanced Systems Thinking, Engineering and Management", 2003)

"The process of complex pattern formation from simpler rules; emergent properties are neither properties had by any parts of the system taken in isolation nor a resultant of a mere summation of properties of parts of the system." (Ani Calinescu & Janet Efstathiou, "Measures of Network Structure", Encyclopedia of Networked and Virtual Organizations, 2008) 

"A process where phenomena at a certain level arise from interactions at lower levels. The term is sometimes used to denote a property of a system not contained in any one of its parts." (Max Lungarella & Gabriel Gómez, "Developmental Robotics", Encyclopedia of Artificial Intelligence, 2009)

"Emergence is defined as the occurrence of new processes operating at a higher level of abstraction then is the level at which the local rules operate." (Jirí Kroc & Peter M A Sloot, "Complex Systems Modeling by Cellular Automata", Encyclopedia of Artificial Intelligence, 2009)

"Phenomenon through which complex systems and patterns emerge from multiple simple and local interactions. Emergence is central to the theory of complex systems." (Marielba Zacarias et al, "Modeling Human Resources in the Emergent Organization", Handbook of Research on E-Transformation and Human Resources Management Technologies, 2009)

"Refers to new unexpected behaviors and patterns that arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. An emergent behavior can appear when a number of simple entities (agents) operate in an environment while forming more complex behaviors as a community."  (Andrew Kuznetsov, "Synthetic Biology as a Proof of Systems Biology", Handbook of Research on Systems Biology Applications in Medicine, 2009)

"The process of coherent patterns of behavior arising from the self-organizing aspects of complex systems." (Brian L Heath & Raymond R. Hill, "Agent-Based Modeling: A Historical Perspective and a Review of Validation and Verification Efforts", Handbook of Research on Discrete Event Simulation Environments: Technologies and Applications, 2010)

"The notion of emergence is used in a variety of disciplines such as evolutionary biology, the philosophy of mind and sociology, as well as in computational and complexity theory. It is associated with non-reductive naturalism, which claims that a hierarchy of levels of reality exist. While the emergent level is constituted by the underlying level, it is nevertheless autonomous from the constituting level. As a naturalistic theory, it excludes non-natural explanations such as vitalistic forces or entelechy. As non-reductive naturalism, emergence theory claims that higher-level entities cannot be explained by lower-level entities." (Martin Neumann, "An Epistemological Gap in Simulation Technologies and the Science of Society", 2011)

"Emergence is a nontrivial relationship between the properties of a system at microscopic and macroscopic scales. Macroscopic properties are called emergent when it is hard to explain them simply from microscopic properties." (Hiroki Sayama, "Introduction to the Modeling and Analysis of Complex Systems", 2015)

"Process whereby global patterns arise through interactions between local and simple entities that themselves do not exhibit such patterns." (Carlos M Fernandes & Ivo D de Sousa, "Digital Swarms: Social Interaction and Emergent Phenomena in Personal Communications Networks, 2017)

"The insurgence, in a group or collective of individuals, of properties that are not shared by any single individual. It is the 'more' in the expression 'the whole is more than just the sum of its constituent parts'." (Alessio Erioli, "Anexact Paths: Computation, Continuity, and Tectonics in the Design Process", Handbook of Research on Form and Morphogenesis in Modern Architectural Contexts, 2018)

"Unexpected phenomena appearing (and often having a regularity or pattern) from a collection of apparently unrelated elements and where the elements themselves do not have the characteristics of the phenomena and that phenomena itself is not contained deductively within the elements." (Jeremy Horne, "Visualizing Big Data From a Philosophical Perspective", Handbook of Research on Big Data Storage and Visualization Techniques, 2018)

"A feature in a complex system that is generated through the dynamic interactions between the parts of a system at one level, and is realized at the next level of organization without intentionality or causality." (A Faye Bres, "Integral Post-Analysis of Design-Based Research of an Organizational Learning Process for Strategic Renewal of Environmental Management", Integral Theory and Transdisciplinary Action Research in Education, 2019)

"Feature of complex systems, meaning that the interactions between system’s components lead to unexpected behavioral properties, resulting from system’s self-organizational processes." (Francesca Costanza, "Managing Patients' Organizations to Improve Healthcare: Emerging Research and Opportunities", 2020)

"The capacity for a system to produce outputs which were unexpected by the original designers." (Kenneth Chen, "The Fallacies of MDA for Novice Designers: Overusing Mechanics and Underusing Aesthetics", Interactivity and the Future of the Human-Computer Interface, 2020)

🕸Systems Engineering: Self-Organization (Definitions)

"Self-organization can be defined as the spontaneous creation of a globally coherent pattern out of local interactions." (Francis Heylighen, "The Science Of Self-Organization And Adaptivity", 1970)

"Self-organization refers to the spontaneous formation of patterns and pattern change in open, nonequilibrium systems." (J A Scott Kelso, "Dynamic Patterns : The Self-organization of Brain and Behavior", 1995)

"[…] self-organization is the spontaneous emergence of new structures and new forms of behavior in open systems far from equilibrium, characterized by internal feedback loops and described mathematically by nonlinear equations." (Fritjof  Capra, "The web of life: a new scientific understanding of living  systems", 1996)

"A system described as self-organizing is one in which elements interact in order to achieve dynamically a global function or behavior." (Carlos Gershenson, "A general methodology for designing self-organizing systems", 2006)

"In engineering, a self-organizing system would be one in which elements are designed to dynamically and autonomously solve a problem or perform a function at the system level." (Carlos Gershenson, "Design and Control of Self-organizing Systems", 2007)

"The components of a system make local decisions that have a coherent, organizing impact on the system as a whole. Therefore, the system displays organization without any external organizing principle being applied." (Ani Calinescu & Janet Efstathiou, "Measures of Network Structure", Encyclopedia of Networked and Virtual Organizations, 2008) 

"The process by which a system chooses way at a bifurcation point as a result of both individual variability and communication between individuals." (Tomas Backström & Marianne Döös, "Relatonics as a Key Concept for Networked Organizations", Encyclopedia of Networked and Virtual Organizations, 2008)

"A characteristic of complex and adaptive systems that display emergent behavior. A structure that self-organizes and gets its smarts from below; agents residing on a scale start producing behavior that lies one scale above them (e.g., ants create colonies, learners create learning communities)." (Daniel Burgos et al, Design Guidelines for Collaboration and Participation with Examples from the LN4LD, Handbook of Research on Learning Design and Learning Objects, 2009)

"It is a process in which the internal organization of a system, normally an open system, increases in complexity without being guided or managed by an outside source. Self-organizing systems typically exhibit emergent behavior." (Vineet R Khare & Frank Z Wang, "Bio-Inspired Grid Resource Management", Handbook of Research on Grid Technologies and Utility Computing, 2009)

"Self-organization is a process typically occurring within complex systems where a system is continuously fed by energy, which is transformed into a new system state or operational mode by a dissipation of energy and/or information." (Jirí Kroc & Peter M A Sloot, "Complex Systems Modeling by Cellular Automata", Encyclopedia of Artificial Intelligence, 2009)

"The ability of a system to arrange and organize itself spontaneously under appropriate circumstances in a purposeful (non-random) manner without any help of external agencies." (Ali Diab & Andreas Mitschele-Thiel, "Self-Organization Activities in LTE-Advanced Networks", Handbook of Research on Progressive Trends in Wireless Communications and Networking, 2014)

"Self-organization is a dynamical process by which a system spontaneously forms nontrivial macroscopic structures and/or behaviors over time." (Hiroki Sayama, "Introduction to the Modeling and Analysis of Complex Systems", 2015)

"Refers to how a system of agents organizes itself into a higher order and emerges from a set of simple rules in an interconnected network." (Wassim J Aloulou, "Understanding Entrepreneurship through Chaos and Complexity Perspectives", Handbook of Research on Chaos and Complexity Theory in the Social Sciences, 2016)

"The ability of a system to spontaneously arrange its components in a purposeful (non-random) manner, under appropriate conditions but without the help of an external agency." (Kijpokin Kasemsap, "Utilizing Complexity Theory and Complex Adaptive Systems in Global Business", Handbook of Research on Chaos and Complexity Theory in the Social Sciences, 2016)

"A process where a form of global order in a system (emergence of patterns at the global scale) arises by means and as a consequence of local interactions." (Alessio Erioli, "Anexact Paths: Computation, Continuity, and Tectonics in the Design Process", Handbook of Research on Form and Morphogenesis in Modern Architectural Contexts, 2018)

"This is a phenomenon, where elements self-organize under the influence of stimuli. In an organisation for self-organisation three elements are crucial: the purpose, values (principles) and the motivation of employees that is results from their responsibility." (Edyta Abramek, "Training Company Self-Organization", Handbook of Research on Autopoiesis and Self-Sustaining Processes for Organizational Success, 2021)

🕸Systems Engineering: System (Definitions)

"A system is an imaginary machine invented to connect together in the fancy those different movements and effects which are already in reality performed." (Adam Smith, "The Wealth of Nations", 1776)

"A system is a methodical arrangement of propositions and proofs; and without such arrangement, no distinct and certain knowlege of any subject can be obtained." (Johann G Burckhardt, 1797) 

"A system is a set of objects compromising all that stands to one another in a group of connected relations." (Charles S Peirce, "Cambridge Lectures on Reasoning and the Logic of Things: Detached Ideas on Vitally Important Topics", 1898)

"A system is a whole which is composed of various parts. But it is not the same thing as an aggregate or heap. In an aggregate or heap, no essential relation exists between the units of which it is composed. In a heap of grain, or pile of stones, one may take away part without the other part being at all affected thereby. But in a system, each part has a fixed and necessary relation to the whole and to all the other parts." (James E Creighton, "An Introductory Logic"‎, 1909)

"A system is any portion of the universe set aside for certain specified purposes. For our concern, a system is set aside from the universe in a manner that will enable this system to be built without having to consider the total universe. Therefore, the system is set aside from the universe by its inputs and outputs - its boundaries." (Kay Inaba et al, "A rational method for applying behavioral technology to man-machine system design", 1956)

"A System is a set of elements in interaction." (Ludwig von Bertalanffy, "General System Theory", 1968)

"A system is a set of two or more elements that satisfies the following three conditions. (1) The behavior of each element has an effect on the behavior of the whole. (2) The behavior of the elements and their effects on the whole are interdependent. the way each element behaves and the way it affects the whole depends on how at least one other element behaves. (3) However subgroups of the elements are formed, each has an effect on the behavior of the whole and none has an independent effect on it." (Russell L Ackoff, "Creating the Corporate Future", 1981) 

"A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system.” (William E Deming, "The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education”, 1993)

"In the most abstract sense, a system is a set of objects together with relationships among the objects. Such a definition implies that a system has properties, functions, and dynamics distinct from its constituent objects and relationships." (Tom R. Burns, "System Theories", 2006) 

"A complex entity that comprises a set of components, along with their properties, relationships and processes, which is described by an equivalent mathematical model." (Evangelos C Papakitsos et al, "The Challenges of Work-Based Learning via Systemic Modelling in the European Union", 2020)

"A group of elements or parts that are organized and interrelated in a pattern of structures that design a specific set of behaviors, often classified as its 'function' or 'purpose'." (Tatiana C Valencia & Stephanie J Valencia, "Cultivating Flow and Happiness in Children", 2020)

"Any notion or physical entity, comprising of mutually interlinked and interacting parts; a set of elements and relationships between them capable of realizing specified objectives; set of elements with specified structure and enabling logically ordered whole, arranged set of statements, views." (Jaroslaw Zelinski, "Synthesis of MOF, MDA, PIM, MVC, and BCE Notations and Patterns", 2020)

🕸Systems Engineering: Systems Theory (Definitions)

"Systems theory pursues the scientific exploration and understanding of systems that exist in the various realms of experience, in order to arrive at a general theory of systems: an organized expressing of sets of interrelated concepts and principles that apply to all systems." (Béla H Bánáthy, "Systems Design of Education", 1991)

"Systems theory is an interdisciplinary field of science concerned with the nature of complex systems, be they physical or natural or purely mathematical." (Thomas B Sheridan, The System Perspective on Human Factors in Aviation, 2010) 

"Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research. The term does not yet have a well-established, precise meaning, but systems theory can reasonably be considered a specialization of systems thinking; alternatively as a goal output of systems science and systems engineering, with an emphasis on generality useful across a broad range of systems (versus the particular models of individual fields)." (Gabriela Walker & Elizabeth Pattison, "Using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Framework to Design Support Systems for Education and Special Education: Learning About Thought Systems", 2016)

"The assumption that quality of a part of a system can only be understood in its relationship to the whole and investigating the parts in isolation cannot explain their combined effect on the whole system." (Margaret S Suubi, "Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Higher Education", 2019) 

"Framework of describing how smaller, multiple units and components work together to create a larger system that is designed to carry out a particular function or meet a certain goal." (RaMonda Horton, "Systems-Based Approaches to Speech-Language Pathology Service Delivery for School Age Children", 2020)

"Is an interdisciplinary study of systems that takes a holistic approach to analysis that focuses on the elements within a system, how they interrelate, how they work over time and within the context of larger systems (e.g., natural or man-made)." (Tatiana C Valencia & Stephanie J Valencia, "Cultivating Flow and Happiness in Children", 2020)

"Systems theory is an interdisciplinary theory about the nature of complex systems in nature, society, and science. It is a framework by which one can use to study, investigate and describe any group of objects that work in collaboration towards a common purpose/goal."

(Cheryl M Cordeiro et al, "Culture From a Value Systems Perspective", 2020)

"The domain of systems inquiry that explores the principles and the description models of the abstract organization of phenomena, in an interdisciplinary manner and independently of their nature (natural or social systems) or scale of existence." (Evangelos C Papakitsos et al, "The Challenges of Work-Based Learning via Systemic Modelling in the European Union", 2020)

"Theory that holds that systems in nature are holistic, interconnected and interdependent. If a change occurs in one part of a system, other parts of the system are affected as well." (Joe Monaco & Edward W Schneider, "Building Performance Systems That Last", 2020)

🚧Project Management: Project Planning (Just the Quotes)

"Planning starts usually with something like a general idea. For one reason or another it seems desirable to reach a certain objective, and how to reach it is frequently not too clear. The first step then is to examine the idea carefully in the light of the means available. Frequently more fact-finding about the situation is required. If this first period of planning is successful, two items emerge: namely, an 'over-all plan' of how to reach the objective and secondly, a decision in regard to the first step of action. Usually this planning has also somewhat modified the original idea. The next period is devoted to executing the first step of the original plan." (Kurt Lewin, "Action research and minority problems", 1946)

"Every company has beloved projects on which if prices had held up, if the contractors had finished on time (or finished at all), if the plans hadn't been altered, if the thing had actually worked, the planned return would have been earned. But since some or all of these calamities [things that don't go as expected] usually happen, any manager who neglects to allow for them is not planning - merely thinking wishfully. Desire for the project has, as usual, overtaken desire for profit." (Ernest Dale, "Planning and developing the company organization structure", 1952)

"Project management is the process by which it is assured that the objective is achieved and resources are not wasted. Planning is one of the two parts of project management. Control is the other. [...] Each project must first be planned in detail. Control is involved with comparing actual progress with the plan and taking corrective action when the two do not correspond. Without the plan, true control is not possible; the need for corrective action, its nature, extent, and urgency cannot he accurately determined." (Robert D Carlsen & James A Lewis, "The Systems Analysis Workbook: A complete guide to project implementation and control", 1973)

"Since software construction is inherently a systems effort - an exercise in complex interrelationships - communication effort is great, and it quickly dominates the decrease in individual task time brought about by partitioning [increasing the workers]. Adding more people then lengthens, not shortens, the schedule." (Frederick Brook, "The Mythical Man-Month", 1975)

"Because one has to be an optimist to begin an ambitious project, it is not surprising that underestimation of completion time is the norm." (Fernando J Corbató, "On Building Systems That Will Fail", 1991)

"If we decide to plan not to lose, we take a defensive posture in which we expend huge amounts of effort trying to prevent and track errors. This will lead us to a very heavyweight planning process in which we try to plan everything up front in a much detail as possible. Such a process will have many review steps, sign-offs, authorizations, and phase gates. Such a planning process is highly adept at making sure that blame can be assigned when something fails; but takes no direct steps towards making sure that the right system is delivered at a reasonable cost." (Kent Beck & Martin Fowler, "Planning Extreme Programming", 2000)

"One of the purposes of planning is we always want to work on the most valuable thing possible at any given time. We can’t pick features at random and expect them to be most valuable. We have to begin development by taking a quick look at everything that might be valuable, putting all our cards on the table. At the beginning of each iteration the business (remember the balance of power) will pick the most valuable features for the next iteration." (Kent Beck & Martin Fowler, "Planning Extreme Programming", 2000)

"Planning is not about predicting the future. When you make a plan for developing a piece of software, development is not going to go like that. Not ever. Your customers wouldn’t even be happy if it did, because by the time software gets there, the customers don’t want what was planned, they want something different." (Kent Beck & Martin Fowler, "Planning Extreme Programming", 2000)

"Projects sometimes fail long before they deliver anything. At some point they may be determined to be too expensive to continue. Or perhaps they took too long to develop and the business need evaporated. Or perhaps the requirements change so often that the developers can never finish one thing without having to stop and start all over on something new. Certainly these are planning failures." (Kent Beck & Martin Fowler, "Planning Extreme Programming", 2000)

"There are two ways to approach prevention of these planning failures. We can plan not to lose, or we can plan to win. The two are not identical. Planning not to lose is defensive; while planning to win is aggressive. [...] the problem that planning is supposed to solve is simply, to build the right system at the right cost. If we take a defensive posture by planning not to lose, we will be able to hold people accountable for any failures; but at an enormous cost. If we take an aggressive posture and plan to win, we will be unafraid to make errors, and will continuously correct them to meet our goals." (Kent Beck & Martin Fowler, "Planning Extreme Programming", 2000)

"We plan because: We need to ensure that we are always working on the most important thing we need to do. We need to coordinate with other people. When unexpected events occur we need to understand the consequences for the first two." (Kent Beck & Martin Fowler, "Planning Extreme Programming", 2000)

"When we plan to win we take direct steps to ensure that we are building the right system at the best possible cost. Every action we take goes towards that end. Instead of trying to plan everything up front, we plan just the next few steps; and then allow customer feedback to correct our trajectory. In this way, we get off the mark quickly, and then continuously correct our direction. Errors are unimportant because they will be corrected quickly." (Kent Beck & Martin Fowler, "Planning Extreme Programming", 2000)

"If you have no plan, you cannot have control, by definition, because it is your plan that tells where you are supposed to be in the first place. Further, if you don’t know where you are, you can’t have control. This comes from your information system. Most organizations have difficulties with both of these." (James P Lewis, "Project Planning, Scheduling, and Control" 3rd Ed., 2001)

"No project can succeed when the team members have no commitment to the plan, so the first rule of project planning is that the people who must do the work should help plan that part of the project. You will not only gain their commitment to the plan, but also most likely cover all of the important issues that you may individually have forgotten."(James P Lewis, "Project Planning, Scheduling, and Control" 3rd Ed., 2001)

"The big fallacy in our assumptions is that the world will stand still while we execute our project plan." (James P Lewis, "Project Planning, Scheduling, and Control" 3rd Ed., 2001)

"Project planning is the key to effective project management. Detailed and accurate planning of a project produces the managerial information that is the basis of project justification (costs, benefits, strategic impact, etc.) and the defining of the business drivers (scope, objectives) that form the context for the technical solution. In addition, project planning also produces the project schedules and resource allocations that are the framework for the other project management processes: tracking, reporting, and review." (Rob Thomsett, "Radical Project Management", 2002)

"If you've been in the software business for any time at all, you know that there are certain common problems that plague one project after another. Missed schedules and creeping requirements are not things that just happen to you once and then go away, never to appear again. Rather, they are part of the territory. We all know that. What's odd is that we don't plan our projects as if we knew it. Instead, we plan as if our past problems are locked in the past and will never rear their ugly heads again. Of course, you know that isn't a reasonable expectation." (Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister, "Waltzing with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects", 2003)

"The pathology of setting a deadline to the earliest articulable date essentially guarantees that the schedule will be missed." (Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister, "Waltzing with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects", 2003)

"Ending up somewhere entirely different from where you expected to go is the norm in this world. Software projects are prime illustrations of the law of unintended consequences, and their innovations and breakthroughs are more often side effects than planned outcomes." (Scott Rosenberg, "Dreaming in Code", 2007)

"[…] in software development, as in all things, plans get dodgier the farther into the future one looks. Any developer who has been around the block will admit that the cavalcade of methodologies over three decades of software history has left the field richer and given programmers useful new tools and ways of thinking about their work. But finding a developer or team that actually subscribes to a particular methodology isn’t easy." (Scott Rosenberg, "Dreaming in Code", 2007)

"The picture of digital progress that so many ardent boosters paint ignores the painful record of actual programmers’ epic struggles to bend brittle code into functional shape. That record is of one disaster after another, marking the field’s historical time line like craters. Anyone contemplating the start of a big software development project today has to contend with this unfathomably discouraging burden of experience. It mocks any newcomer with ambitious plans, as if to say, What makes you think you’re any different?" (Scott Rosenberg, "Dreaming in Code", 2007)

"Users may be annoyed by bugs, and software developers may be disappointed by their inability to perfect their work, and managers may be frustrated by the unreliability of their plans. But in the end, none of that matters as much as the simple fact that software does not work the way we think, and until it does, it is not worth trying to perfect." (Scott Rosenberg, "Dreaming in Code", 2007)

"And even if we make good plans based on the best information available at the time and people do exactly what we plan, the effects of our actions may not be the ones we wanted because the environment is nonlinear and hence is fundamentally unpredictable. As time passes the situation will change, chance events will occur, other agents such as customers or competitors will take actions of their own, and we will find that what we do is only one factor among several which create a new situation." (Stephen Bungay, "The Art of Action: How Leaders Close the Gaps between Plans, Actions, and Results", 2010)

"A project plan is a prediction. It predicts that a team of N people will complete X amount of work by Y date." (Sriram Narayan, "Agile IT Organization Design: For Digital Transformation and Continuous Delivery", 2015)

"Development is a design process. Design processes are generally evaluated by the value they deliver rather than a conformance to plan. Therefore, it makes sense to move away from plan-driven projects and toward value-driven projects. […] The realization that the source code is part of the design, not the product, fundamentally rewires our understanding of software." (Sriram Narayan, "Agile IT Organization Design: For Digital Transformation and Continuous Delivery", 2015)

"The planning fallacy is the systematic tendency for project plans and budgets to undershoot. […] The reasons for the planning fallacy are partly psychological, partly cultural, and partly to do with our limited ability to think probabilistically." (Paul Gibbons, "The Science of Successful Organizational Change",  2015)

"An effort estimate is not complete without including its assumptions. Estimate assumptions include any and all underlying factors the estimate relies upon. Assumptions are especially important in more rigid estimation environments, but they are a good practice even where expectations are more flexible. Explicitly listing all assumptions helps to remove ambiguity and avoid misunderstandings during project delivery." (Morgan Evans, "Engineering Manager's Handbook", 2023)

"Plans allow us to think through objectives beforehand in the hope of being prepared for delivery. Plans are useful when they preempt conflict, direct efforts in harmony, and align expectations. Plans are not useful when they waste valuable build time or provide a false sense of security, for example, by missing unknown unknowns." (Morgan Evans, "Engineering Manager's Handbook", 2023)

🚧Project Management: Risk (Just the Quotes)

"But the greater the primary risk, the safer and more careful your secondary assumptions must be. A project is only as sound as its weakest assumption, or its largest uncertainty." (Robert Heller, "The Naked Manager: Games Executives Play", 1972)

"Today, most project management practitioners focus on planning failure. If this aspect of the project can be compressed, or even eliminated, then the magnitude of the actual failure, should it occur, would be diminished. A good project management methodology helps to reduce planning failure. Today, we believe that planning failure, when it occurs, is due in large part to the project manager’s inability to perform effective risk management." (Harold Kerzner, "Strategic Planning for Project Management using a Project Management Maturity Model", 2001)

"Risks and benefits always go hand in hand. The reason that a project is full of risk is that it leads you into uncharted waters. It stretches your capability, which means that if you pull it off successfully, it's going to drive your competition batty. The ultimate coup is to stretch your own capability to a point beyond the competition's ability to respond. This is what gives you competitive advantage and helps you build a distinct brand in the market." (Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister, "Waltzing with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects", 2003)

"The business of believing only what you have a right to believe is called risk management." (Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister, "Waltzing with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects", 2003)

"In project management there are two levels of opportunities and risks. Because a project is the pursuit of an opportunity, the first category, the macro opportunity, is the project opportunity itself. The approach to achieving the project opportunity and the mitigation of associated project-level risks are structured into the strategy and tactics of the project cycle, the selected decision gates, the teaming arrangements, key personnel selected, and so on. The second level encompasses the tactical opportunities and risks within the project that become apparent at lower levels of decomposition and as project cycle phases are planned and executed. This can include emerging, unproven technology; incremental and evolutionary methods that promise high returns; and the temptation to circumvent proven practices in order to deliver better, faster, and cheaper." (Kevin Forsberg et al, "Visualizing Project Management: Models and frameworks for mastering complex systems" 3rd Ed., 2005)

"Opportunities and risks are endemic to the project environment. However well planned a project may be, there will always be residual project risk." (Kevin Forsberg et al, "Visualizing Project Management: Models and frameworks for mastering complex systems" 3rd Ed., 2005)

"When we pursue opportunity, we normally incur risk. The opportunity to experience the thrill of an exciting sport like hang gliding or scuba diving brings with it the attendant risks. Many people instinctively make the trade that the thrill is worth the risks. Others decline." (Kevin Forsberg et al, "Visualizing Project Management: Models and frameworks for mastering complex systems" 3rd Ed., 2005)

"For most projects there will be many sources of risk. Assumptions that seem quite reasonable at the start of a project may be proven otherwise if and when conditions in internal or external environments change during the project duration." (Roger Jones & Neil Murra, "Change, Strategy and Projects at Work", 2008)

"Routine tasks are, by their nature, familiar to us. The outcomes of performing routine tasks are therefore usually highly predictable. Project work by contrast includes elements of risk and uncertainty associated with the uniqueness and unfamiliarity of some of the work or the context in which it is carried out. Murphy’s Law expresses a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ but fallacious certainty of things going wrong, if it is possible for them to go wrong." (Roger Jones & Neil Murra, "Change, Strategy and Projects at Work", 2008)

"Whilst culture can help create a sense of belonging and shared destiny, it can also prove to be an obstacle to change especially where the existing culture is risk averse or if the change strategy is perceived by some to challenge prevailing group values. Where radical change is proposed, the achievement of cultural change may actually be a major objective of the proposed change." (Roger Jones & Neil Murra, "Change, Strategy and Projects at Work", 2008)

"A project is usually considered a failure if it is late, is over budget, or does not meet the customer’s expectations. Without the control that project management provides, a project is more likely to have problems with one of these areas. A problem with only one constraint (scope, schedule, cost, resources, quality, and risk) can jeopardize the entire project." (Sandra F Rowe, "Project Management for Small Projects" 3rd Ed., 2020)

🚧Project Management: Laws (Just the Quotes)

"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome." (Samuel Johnson, 1759)

"Remember, if you fail to prepare you are preparing to fail." (H K Williams, 1919)

"If we fail to prepare we prepare to fail." (James H Hope, 1929)

"In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away [...]" (Antoine de Saint Exupéry, "Wind, Sand and Stars", 1939) 

"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." (C Northcote Parkinson, "Parkinson’s Law", 1957) 

"Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later." (Fred Brooks, "The Mythical Man-Month", 1975)

"By failing to plan, you will free very little, if any, time, and by failing to plan you will almost certainly fail […] Exactly because we lack time to plan, we should take time to plan." (Alan Lakein, "How to get control of your time and your life", 1974) 

"Program advocates like to keep bad news covered up until they have spent so much money they can advance the sunk-cost argument; that it's too late to cancel the program because we've spent too much already." (James P Stevenson, "The Pentagon Paradox: The development of the F-18 Hornet", 1993)

Graham's Law: "If they know nothing of what you are doing, they suspect you are doing nothing." (Robert J Graham et al, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Project Management", 2007) 

O'Brochta's Law: "Project management is about applying common sense with uncommon discipline." (Michael O'Brochta, "Great Project Managers", 2008) 

"No project should be allowed to proceed without clear specification and acceptance  criteria, that are understood by all participants." (Tony Martyr, "Why Projects Fail", 2018)

Augustine's Law: "A bad idea executed to perfection is still a bad idea." (Norman R Augustine)

Cohn's Law: "The more time you spend in reporting on what you are doing, the less time you have to do anything. Stability is achieved when you spend all your time doing nothing but reporting on the nothing you are doing."

Dobbins’ Law: "When in doubt, use a bigger hammer."

Fitzgerald's Law: "There are two states to any large project: Too early to tell and too late to stop." (Ernest Fitzgerald)

Hoggarth's Law: "Attempts to get answers early in a project fail as there are many more wrong questions than right ones. Activity during the early stages should be dedicated to finding the correct questions. Once the correct questions have been identified correct answers will naturally fall out of subsequent work without grief or excitement and there will be understanding of what the project is meant to achieve."

Kinser's Law: "About the time you finish doing something, you know enough to start." (James C Kinser) 

Wolf ’s Law of Management: "The tasks to do immediately are the minor ones; otherwise, you’ll forget them. The major ones are often better to defer. They usually need more time for reflection. Besides, if you forget them, they’ll remind you."