Elmar Kutsch - Böcker

Central to the issue of improving project performance is the application of deterministic, probabilistic processes, and techniques to reduce human error. To that end, we as project managers often endeavour to implement and follow a project management methodology in the belief that we can reduce the scope for emerging ambiguous requirements, ill-matched resource needs and availability, contractual and funding constraints, and other unwanted uncertainties. However, such ‘self-evidently correct’ processes are not without their limitations. The management of uncertainty needs to be viewed not from a procedural, ‘stand-alone’ perspective but from a behavioural, people-driven perspective – that is, Mindfulness. Mindfulness is a project-wide human capability to anticipate key events from emerging trends, constantly adapt to change, and rapidly bounce back from adversity. Resilient project managers are forward-thinking and able to foresee relevant scenarios that are likely to occur and which may have damaging effects on performance. We strive to be prepared for the best but also for the worst, and learning is nurtured and encouraged. We believe that with purpose, whatever uncertainty hits us, and regardless of the damage caused, we can prevent a crisis from happening in the first place. When a crisis occurs, we can recover and bounce back from shocks, quickly restoring ‘normal’ management. This book goes beyond commonly accepted standards in project management and looks past mere compliance to determinism and probabilistic approaches to managing uncertainty. Relying on the power of mindful thinking, it identifies an art to manage uncertainty.

Central to the issue of improving project performance is the application of deterministic, probabilistic processes, and techniques to reduce human error. To that end, we as project managers often endeavour to implement and follow a project management methodology in the belief that we can reduce the scope for emerging ambiguous requirements, ill-matched resource needs and availability, contractual and funding constraints, and other unwanted uncertainties. However, such ‘self-evidently correct’ processes are not without their limitations. The management of uncertainty needs to be viewed not from a procedural, ‘stand-alone’ perspective but from a behavioural, people-driven perspective – that is, Mindfulness. Mindfulness is a project-wide human capability to anticipate key events from emerging trends, constantly adapt to change, and rapidly bounce back from adversity. Resilient project managers are forward-thinking and able to foresee relevant scenarios that are likely to occur and which may have damaging effects on performance. We strive to be prepared for the best but also for the worst, and learning is nurtured and encouraged. We believe that with purpose, whatever uncertainty hits us, and regardless of the damage caused, we can prevent a crisis from happening in the first place. When a crisis occurs, we can recover and bounce back from shocks, quickly restoring ‘normal’ management. This book goes beyond commonly accepted standards in project management and looks past mere compliance to determinism and probabilistic approaches to managing uncertainty. Relying on the power of mindful thinking, it identifies an art to manage uncertainty.

This book provides a guide to navigating the paradoxical tensions of organisational resilience and presents a framework to aid individuals and businesses to become more open-minded, flexible, and mindful in managing the unexpected. The book offers the reader pragmatic and insightful means to achieve a ‘state’ of organisational resilience, making use of current research data that shows how managers anticipate and respond to actual and near-miss incidents. Grounded in the day-to-day reality of managers, the goal of this book is to offer a unique theoretical framework as a platform for practical application for the improvement of organisational outcomes. It provides insights into ten key capabilities that enable the reader to set up a successful program of organisational resilience, taking a cross-cutting approach and focusing on implementation while having solid foundations in theory.This is an ideal book for advanced students and executive education courses in risk management, crisis management, and business continuity, as well as thoughtful practitioners.

This book provides a guide to navigating the paradoxical tensions of organisational resilience and presents a framework to aid individuals and businesses to become more open-minded, flexible, and mindful in managing the unexpected. The book offers the reader pragmatic and insightful means to achieve a ‘state’ of organisational resilience, making use of current research data that shows how managers anticipate and respond to actual and near-miss incidents. Grounded in the day-to-day reality of managers, the goal of this book is to offer a unique theoretical framework as a platform for practical application for the improvement of organisational outcomes. It provides insights into ten key capabilities that enable the reader to set up a successful program of organisational resilience, taking a cross-cutting approach and focusing on implementation while having solid foundations in theory.This is an ideal book for advanced students and executive education courses in risk management, crisis management, and business continuity, as well as thoughtful practitioners.

The battlefield of the past is an opportunity for the future commander, the future manager to reflect. The books rationale for translating military concepts into management speak is the authors impression in the classroom that managers in commercial organisations tend to follow ‘outdated’ models of management, without reflecting on a military science that is believed to provide thought leadership.The case study of the Fall of France in 1940 is a contest between two archetypes of organisational resilience, with one prevailing over the other. The resulting insights shaped military science; concepts such as Auftragstaktik have found its way into doctrinal thinking of modern armies as well as framed contemporary management literature.This book provides a compelling analysis of the monumental events in May 1940, and provides rudimentary answers from a military and management perspective, true to the premise of history. The Art of Organisational Resilience is a highly distinctive and readable book that explores the strategy, operations and tactics of modern business and the role of resilience in sustaining business in increasingly complex, often fast-changing and adverse conditions.

The battlefield of the past is an opportunity for the future commander, the future manager to reflect. The books rationale for translating military concepts into management speak is the authors impression in the classroom that managers in commercial organisations tend to follow ‘outdated’ models of management, without reflecting on a military science that is believed to provide thought leadership.The case study of the Fall of France in 1940 is a contest between two archetypes of organisational resilience, with one prevailing over the other. The resulting insights shaped military science; concepts such as Auftragstaktik have found its way into doctrinal thinking of modern armies as well as framed contemporary management literature.This book provides a compelling analysis of the monumental events in May 1940, and provides rudimentary answers from a military and management perspective, true to the premise of history. The Art of Organisational Resilience is a highly distinctive and readable book that explores the strategy, operations and tactics of modern business and the role of resilience in sustaining business in increasingly complex, often fast-changing and adverse conditions.