Complexity - The Biggest Challenge of the Modern Manager

Managing complexity is the ultimate challenge for the 21st century project manager. I've been lucky enough to learn a few things about it over past few years managing the deployment of a unique science-based based platform called Syntegration. This process allows large teams of up to 48 people to come together over 2-3 days and solve some of the world's most complex challenges. Working with clients such as 3M, Campbell's, and Norvartis, I have watched in awe as this structured process has been applied to the right group of people to quickly produce actionable results. We like to say we have solved for the process of solving.

Structured Process

To set the stage, here is some context from our website:

"The key to our business orchestration platform is Syntegration®—the breakthrough, science-based algorithm for mobilizing large groups, deepening relationships and, most importantly, rapidly solving complex challenges. With Syntegration, we streamline large group interaction in ways that mobilize your combined talent, moving it from individual contributions, to collaboration, to collective results, to a clearly defined action plan with sustained momentum.By combining insights from geometry, neurology and cybernetics with advanced mathematical models and social-technologies, we enable you to quickly optimize large group interaction, consolidate thinking, and formulate solutions in dramatically compressed timeframes. Our team of experts deliver Syntegration in a face-to-face setting over the course of two to three days."

To put this in simple terms, it means that a Syntegration is a highly engineered process that gets big groups of people to interact in a series of 'collisions' over 2-3 days in a way that spreads knowledge, understanding, and alignment across the group. There really is nothing like this platform on the market, and the proof is in eyes of participants who light up after seeing innovative ideas traverse the minds of believers, and disbelievers alike, as the process of Syntegration unfolds.

Requisite Variety

A Syntegration needs to be carefully planned to ensure it is comprised of the right people to solve the question at hand. This often means we don't include just the top of house in Strategy/Finance/Planning but also IT, HR, Marketing. It really depends on question/challenge, but we put a lot time into the thinking around who can best provide the varied and rich context to best inform the conversation.

Actionable Recommendations

The key output of every Syntegration is alignment around the core/key issues. The structured collision of thinking among the right group of experts produces a crescendo of  actionable recommendations. These proposals are deeply informed by the hive mind of up to 48 senior leaders, who are aligned on the need for action. Our experience has shown that the Syntegration event itself creates a type of 'action halo' that participants carry with them back to their daily jobs, and immediate work priorities. This is further supported by key output deliverables, steering committees, and a 3/6/12 month check-up process.

There are ways to tackle the challenge of complexity and get teams aligned on mobilized on solutions. For over 15 years we have been doing events across North America, and we believe the right solution to solve for solving complexity is the process of Syntegration.

Dave Ullrich, B.Comm, PMP specializes in IT project management consulting and strategy with his company Cilantra Solutions. He has based this approach on the results of several successful IT project implementations with teams distributed across Canada, US, and the UK. He can be reached at daveullrich@gmail.com.