ABSTRACT
Many writers argue that it is impossible to understand something which is truly complex. The ability to comprehend that the project is something out of the ordinary seems to be the first step in being able to deal with it effectively. Likening complex projects to the complex adaptive systems found in animals and plant systems incorporates the notion that projects exist in the social world, which is a complex adaptive system. Implicit in the notion of a complex adaptive system are questions about whether all projects can be expected to behave in predictable ways, the way we expect a mechanical system to behave. Factors which contribute to the uncertainty due to non-linearity might include technical complicacy, unclear or untimely decision-making, unexpected and many others. The uncertainty, or ambiguity, that follows can present itself as loss of faith in the technology management of the project and in other parties involved in the project.
