APM Systems Thinking Interest Network
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Welcome to the APM Systems Thinking Interest Network.
Ready to make a difference? Dive into our network and become part of something truly special. Whether you're passionate about volunteering, seeking valuable resources on Benefits and Value, or eager to network with like minded project professionals at our exciting events, there's a place for you here.
Volunteer opportunities await. Join us to create positive change! From webinars to networking events, there are countless ways you can contribute your time and skills to make a difference.
Discover valuable resources. Empower yourself with knowledge and tools to drive progress forward. Explore our resources below filled with insightful articles, practical guides, and useful tools designed to support your career.
Our purpose? To promote systems thinking as a methodology to improve delivery of complex change initiatives.
We also aim to foster and encourage better integration between project management and systems engineering, drawing on industrial and academic expertise from across the two professional bodies.
What do we do? Systems thinking is both a mindset and a toolset that helps project professionals recognise and manage complexity in projects and programs.
It is crucial for achieving success by anticipating and communicating necessary adjustments to baseline plans in response to emerging requirements.
Failure to convince stakeholders of the need for change can often lead to disappointment and loss of benefits, or even complete failure of the project and programme.
This is why we are committed to advancing guidance materials and conducting in-depth research that are central to systems thinking.
What we offer our followers? We offer the tools and techniques that significantly enhance the chances of achieving project success, resulting in outcomes and benefits that delight customers and stakeholders.
We also share insights into how systems thinking can improve the chances of success, through webinars and publications. These use real projects to compare and contrast success from effective use of systems thinking with failure from a lack of systems thinking.
How to get involved? Our volunteers include consultants, academics, managers, and engineers from industries, spanning from the private sector to large public sector programs, including nuclear and defence. We are a broad church.
âWhat you get from the interest network is real project management applications of systems thinking,â says network lead Andrew Wright. âYou receive insights from professionals who are actively applying these principles in real-world projects.â
Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing inter-relationships rather than things, for seeing patterns rather than static âsnapshotsâ. Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing the âstructuresâ that underlie complex situations.
Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation
The Interest Network has emerged from a Joint Working Group (JWG), established in 2013 between APM and the UK Chapter of the International Council for Systems Engineering (INCOSE UK).
The JWG set out to foster and encourage better integration between project management and systems engineering, drawing on industrial and academic expertise from across the two professional bodies.
The Systems Thinking Interest Network will continue the strong relationship with INCOSE UK, supporting (and supported by) members of both communities.
Aims
The Systems Thinking Interest Network is a natural development of the JWG whose aim is now:
âTo promote systems thinking as a methodology to improve delivery of complex change initiativesâ
- develop the Project Management Body of Knowledge for Systems Thinking with particular
emphasis on good practice and guidance to enable P3M and Systems Engineering
to work efficiently and effectively in the delivery of complex projects; - introduce systems thinking as a recognised competency for project managers;
- promote systems thinking as a methodology in a broad range of change initiatives and help organisations deliver more effective outcomes with fewer resources;
- provide an active forum for the community of project management and systems thinking professionals to debate and share experiences, ideas, tools and techniques.
We have a strong agenda in continuing the development of both guidance material and deeper research in line with its aim, and in reaching out across the other Interest Networks and the wider APM membership to help foster the links and relationships that lie at the heart of systems thinking.
Team member
Lead
Deputy Lead
