The challenges faced by Filippo Brunelleschi, a goldsmith and clock maker, who went on to become a prominent architect in the Italian Renaissance included politics, wars, and competing interests focused on destroying his credibility.  It seems nothing much has changed for innovative project leaders in the intervening 600 years.

Brunelleschi’s primary claim to fame is the design and construction of the dome to complete Florence’s new cathedral. For most of the construction period, the Republic of Florence was one of the wealthiest city states in what is now modern Italy, and to show off its wealth the Republic decided to build a monumental cathedral.

Work on the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore started in 1296 under the direction of the Opera del Duomo, to a design proposed by Arnolfo di Cambio. As part of the design process a 30-foot long model of the cathedral complete with its massive dome and ornate finishes had been constructed, and the members of the Opera, and anyone involved in leading the detailed design or construction processes swore an oath to faithfully reproduce the model at full scale.

By 1380 (84 years after the start) work on the body of the cathedral was nearing completion, Arnolfo di Cambio had died, and no-one had a clue how to build the massive dome – it was wider and higher than anything previously built. As a committee faced with a difficult decision, the Opera did what most committees do, nothing! After 30 years of procrastination, a public bid was finally issued in 1418, to find someone to design and build the dome.

The biggest challenge was the shortage of timber. Arches and domes are traditionally built using centring that supports the incomplete structure until it is joined at the top and becomes self-supporting. However, the size of the dome (143 feet 6 inches in diameter – 46 meters), and the height of the dome, the base started at 170 feet above ground level, meant there were insufficient large timbers in the North of Italy for the work. 

The design by Filippo Brunelleschi held the most promise, but it was so futuristic that was almost incomprehensible to the commission members. His proposal was to build the dome without support from the ground. The notoriously hot-headed goldsmith may have won the competition to design the dome for the city’s cathedral, but the way forward was far from clear.

Building a massive self-supporting dome had never been attempted before, and had no formal training as an architect or engineer. He had spent a decade in Rome studying the Roman architecture and construction techniques but the quality of his self-study was unknown.  

The novelty of the design, and Brunelleschi’s lack of a track record, coupled to his innate tendency to secrecy, generated perplexity and doubts in the minds of the Opera and so a no-decision approach was adopted. After a year’s delay they appointed two principal construction managers (capomaestro), Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti plus two other ‘architects’ as their deputies to design and construct the dome.   This arrangement was about as successful as one would expect and after a lot of politicking and intrigue Filippo eventually assumed full responsibility for the construction, but Lorenzo never gave up trying to regain ascendency and the politics and intrigue continued at many levels.

Brunelleschi eventually built the dome between 1420 and 1436, following the design he had presented to the Opera in 1418. The lantern on the top was added some 10 years later following another design competition won by Brunelleschi. His dome still stands in the centre of Florence despite earthquakes, lightening and wars. But why is Filippo Brunelleschi’s successes important?

In my view, there are several reasons. Probably the most significant is the fact that Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the very first master builders and architects to be publicly recognised. He is buried in the crypt of the Santa Maria del Fiore, has two biographies, and is remembered in history – before his time architects and master masons were generally seen as being only slightly more important than other trades.  

He also looked after his workforce, wages were set by the Opera and Guilds, but Filippo was responsible for safe working conditions:

• Workers were not allowed to ride in the cranes. Walking up and down 500+ steps may not be fun but it was a lot safer. Riding on crane loads in modern times continued through to the 1970s in most parts of the world.
• The wine workers drank with their lunch had to be cut with at least 50% water. Drinking wine was a lot safer than drinking water in the 15^th century, but with a clear drop of 200+ feet to the floor, everyone needed to stay sober.  Very heavy fines were enforced if someone broke this rule, in modern times alcohol and drug testing on construction sites is a relatively new innovation.
• The spiral staircases to the dome were one-way, two for going up, two for descending.
• As well as work platforms inside the dome the workers were fitted with leather safety harnesses. 

Finally, he was an innovative designer. Detailed designs were drawn, and 3D models made for the complex brick, stone and timber components of the dome, and for the cranes and other equipment used to build the dome. Unfortunately, very little of this work survives, so we still don’t know many of the secrets embedded in the dome’s structure. For the whole duration of the project, Brunelleschi personally managed the stakeholder relationships. With an obviously concerned client, the Opera, he provided detailed information in terms of costs, execution times and the quality of the work. He also managed the relationships on-site with the various master builders responsible for the different sections of the dome, and worked with them to replan the work and resources when necessary to absorb delays. And he had to contend with a population who felt the cathedral needed finishing in a hurry.

The success of Filippo Brunelleschi’s efforts can be appreciated by anyone visiting Florence.  If you have found this post interesting, Brunelleschi’s Dome – How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King is a good read.

For more construction management history see: https://mosaicprojects.com.au/PMKI-ZSY-005.php#Process2

The fifth and final paper in Dr. Lynda Bourne’s series: Project Management in the time of COVID has been published in the November edition of PM World Journal.  This paper outlines some practical ways to facilitate the changes proposed in the previous four papers in this series, and identifies some processes and actions that can be applied by organizations to assist with the transition to life post-COVID.

It is organized as follows:

• First, a discussion of the importance of leadership, engagement of stakeholders, managing uncertainty, consultation, and communication, in facilitating change
• Second a discussion on approaches for effective change management
• Third a focus on how to identify and counteract recurring issues in implementing the change.

The full series can be downloaded from https://mosaicprojects.com.au/PMKI-ORG-060.php#COVID

The fourth paper on our series for the PM World Journal on Project Management in the time of COVID, Rethinking Communication has been uploaded to the Mosaic website.

Organizations everywhere are struggling with the requirements of returning project planning and delivery to pre-COVID levels, which in turn creates a range of communication challenges. They need to prevail over the global threats of staff and material shortages, the demographic changes to the project workforce and the general reluctance of project teams members to resume full-time face-to-face modes of working. These are complex issues for organizations and may need courage to introduce innovative flexible work modes and to introduce new people strategies to acquire and retain project workers. It is a great opportunity for innovation and flexibility, and will require a measure of audacity from often conservative organizations. To achieve these ambitious goals, they must ensure that communication and people management strategies match any changes they plan to introduce, and even more important, to ensure adequate consultation with their people.

Download all three papers from: Project Management in the time of COVID

Over the last couple of months, I’ve seen many discussions around the concept of agile in project management where it seems no one was talking about the same thing……..  This set me thinking.

My conclusion is the Agile Manifesto sets out a philosophy not a methodology and change the term ‘software’ used in the manifesto to product (or output), it is a generally applicable philosophy.  Then there are various methodologies for implementing this philosophical approach. This distinction creates to totally different areas of discussion.  One is the validity of the philosophical ideas, the other the appropriateness of any given methodology in the circumstances of a particular project.

The underpinning philosophy driving the development of project management from the 1960s through to the 2000s was derived from scientific management, the core elements being:

1. The future is largely predictable and we can create reliable schedules and budgets for a project.
2. These plans can be used by management to control the work of the project.
3. Risk is important, and if you do enough work, you can parameterize the overall risk profile and allow appropriate contingencies based on the management’s risk appetite.
4. When things go wrong, someone is at fault.
5. The way to improve project outcomes is to do ‘project management better’.

Then the Agile Manifesto was published. It sees most elements of traditional project management as valuable, but places more emphasis on:

• Individuals and interactions,
• Working software products (fit for purpose),
• Customer collaboration,
• Responding to change.

These ideas are consistent with other innovations such as empowerment, self-managed teams, and stakeholder engagement which also emerged into prominence in the 2000s.

This ‘agile philosophy’ represents a paradigm shift in thinking from the older project management ideas that are built around predictability and ‘command and control’ to one focused on delivering value to the client by working with people.

A third concept, also from the 2000s, is complexity which emphasizes the impossibility of predicting future outcomes, the day-to-day actions of the project team build the future within an ever-changing environment.

My feeling is at this level most thinking project practitioners will be willing to agree agility and complexity are important elements in the successful management of projects.

Then you get to the methodologies.  Scrum is a methodology developed for use on soft projects (software development, and others). It emphasizes using the skills and capability of the project team to decide what to do next.  Lean construction also emphasizes using the skills and capability of the project team to decide what to do next. The difference between the two is the characteristics of the product places far more constraints on the work of the construction team, compared to the software team, and this is reflected in the methodology.   

Separating the discussions around approach (philosophy) between predictive, agile and/or complex is important for the evolution of project management as a concept. But this is a different discussion to the one about which of the methodologies is best for a particular project. In this respect the agile community are well ahead of the more traditional project communities.  Agile methodologies include Scrum, DA, Safe, XP, Kanban and several others. 

In the more traditional industries, we have a few concepts such as Lean Construction and BIM, but mostly continue to approach the management of projects in the same way as we did in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, etc.  And continue to see the same failure rates, and continue to blame people, or the lack of skills, or the lack of diligence in the planning…….

Maybe there is a need for a reframing of the discussions.

The third paper on our series for the PM World Journal on Project Management in the time of COVID, Rethinking Teams has been uploaded to the Mosaic website.

Teams are central to project delivery, but the current situation of ‘living with COVID’ presents a series of challenges including the challenge of acquiring and supporting teams and team members, and dealing with the residual issues of the pandemic such as anxiety, loss of control over the work product and re-negotiating work-life balance. New modes of working create advantages and disadvantages from the perspective of both workers and organizations. But, how best to manage teams in the new hybrid mode, based on the learnings from the previous decade’s use of virtual teams and deal with the urgent emerging issues such as, shortages of experienced staff, and how to reform training, acquisition and retention of project team members.

Download all three papers from: Project Management in the time of COVID

We now live in an age where Google search is ubiquitous, and the ‘find’ function in Word and PDF documents is almost instantaneous, but this was not always the case. This article traces the development of indexing from its start some 800 years ago in the 13^th century, through to modern times as well as and providing links to a number of specialized search engines that are free to use.

Download Finding Information – The art of Indexing: https://mosaicprojects.com.au/Mag_Articles/AA023_Finding_Information-Indexing.pdf   

Despite being a part of management for over 100 years, this article suggests the traditional organization chart (OBS) is of very limited value in a modern organization, and of less value in a project or program. There are less restrictive ways to document seniority, responsibility, pay-grade, etc.  
Download Are organization charts still useful?

Or click through to see more on the origins of this type of management chart: https://mosaicprojects.com.au/PMKI-ZSY-020.php#WBS

Rethinking Leadership and Governance is the second paper in the series Project Management in the time of COVID. Governance and leadership are mutually inclusive. Leaders define and support good governance, while leadership is enhanced by good governance.

This paper looks at the definitions of governance and leadership, then describes Australia’s pre-pandemic environment in terms of those definitions, followed by an overview of our first two years of lockdowns. The final section discusses how reviews and reforms of governance and leadership practices may be applied to develop the new normal needed to counteract the problems of the past.

Download the paper from:  https://mosaicprojects.com.au/PMKI-ORG-060.php#COVID

PM World Journal is a free monthly project management journal, see more at: https://pmworldjournal.com/

The first in a series of five papers by Dr. Lynda Bourne, commissioned by PM World Journal, has been uploaded to the Mosaic website.

Uncertainty – Is it time to rethink? considers what uncertainty might mean post-pandemic. Through a discussion of the concept of a Zone of Uncertainty, the paper considers how the current heightened awareness of uncertainty and unknown unknowns can contribute to more effective risk management practice, and how the introduction of the concepts of resilience, persistence, and adaptability may assist individuals, groups, and organizations to recover, review and reform their practices.

Download the paper from:  https://mosaicprojects.com.au/PMKI-ORG-060.php#COVID  

PM World Journal is a free monthly project management journal, see more at: https://pmworldjournal.com/  

Our latest article, Myths and Legends – The Origins of Standard Gauge Railways grew out of the research undertaken for The Origins and History of Cost Engineering and the soon to be published The First Railway & Canal Projects. 

The article shows that unlike the elaborate myth, standard gauge appears to be the consequence of random chance. These findings raise a number of important issues:

1. While a good story is an invaluable communication tool, the connections within the story need to be as robust as the facts they connect.
2. Don’t look for complex solutions when there’s a simple explanation (Ockham’s razor), function follows form regardless of the century.
3. Don’t underestimate the power of random chance.

Download the Myths and Legends – The Origins of Standard Gauge Railways

See more on the history of project management: https://mosaicprojects.com.au/PMKI-ZSY.php