Riccardo Cosentino and his co-host Corail Bourrelier Fabiani welcome Harvey Maylor, their esteemed professor from the MSc Major Programme Management at Oxford, to discuss the transformative power of systems thinking in major project management. Harvey Maylor, a leading academic and practitioner, shares his profound insights on harnessing systems thinking to navigate and resolve the intricate challenges inherent in large-scale projects.

“We just make life flipping difficult. And that, for me, is a great frustration that you see really bright, really energetic people really going at a problem, but because of the way the work is organized, it's just really difficult and that their insights, intelligence, energy just gets burnt up by pointless organizational things that don't add any value to them, the organization or the end user or indeed society. ” –  Harvey Maylor

Harvey Maylor combines over 25 years of industry experience with academic research to bring a unique perspective to project management. As an Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Warwick, Harvey focuses on project management, complexity, and performance. He advocates for practical methodologies like Agile and Lean to enhance project outcomes across various sectors.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding the fundamental principles of systems thinking and how they apply to major projects
• Techniques to identify, analyze, and manage the complexities inherent in large-scale projects
• Exploring how strategic misrepresentation and optimism bias affect project estimates and decision-making
• The application of Agile, Lean, and other practical methodologies to manage and mitigate project risks
• Effective strategies for managing diverse stakeholder groups and navigating political influences in large-scale projects

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The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our LinkedIn community: 

• Follow Corail Bourrelier Fabiani on LinkedIn
• Follow Harvey Maylor on LinkedIn
• Read Harvey Maylor’s Published Work
• Follow Navigating Major Programmes on LinkedIn
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino on LinkedIn
• Read Riccardo’s latest at wwww.riccardocosentino.com

Music: "A New Tomorrow" by Chordial Music. Licensed through PremiumBeat.