Project conceptualization using pragmatic methods

An important and difficult part of project management is the conceptualization stage – particularly when dealing with multiple powerful stakeholders and ‘messy’ situations. Pragmatism provides a way forward that makes central the ‘concepts’ being used to conceptualize the project (e.g. ‘timeliness’ or ‘sustainability’). This paper argues for a sequence of two approaches suggested in the literature that combine this pragmatism and soft systems thinking to conceptualize projects. These are Alexander’s ‘Synthesis’ [1] and Checkland’s ‘CATWOE’ [2]. The first identifies concepts or worldviews, the second uses these to draft a series of ‘what needs to be done’ statements. In the way of Pragmatic Systems Inquiry, these approaches suggested from the literature are then compared to a real case study: the LC-25 project.