S5E112: Project forecasting is a "wicked problem" with Dr Dan Patterson

<p><br></p> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this episode, Dale and Val bring back Dr Dan Patterson to talk about what he has been brewing since their last podcast. Wicked’ problems are problems that cannot be definitely solved – they can only be bettered. Tame problems can be definitively solved e.g. fixing a leaky pipe. &nbsp;For 70 years, we have been trying to adopt tools to definitively ‘solve’ projects and as such we all too often run into what we think is ‘project failure’. The problem with a project is that there is no definitive ‘this is solved’ – there are too many competing objectives (eg cost vs schedule vs cope) and also too many stakeholders with differing objectives. Instead of striving for a finite outcome, in the context of the fact projects are under a barrage of constant change and influences, perhaps we should treat planning and execution as being bettered (tamed) and not solved? I see this as the science of&nbsp;<strong>meta-planning ie better plan the planning process rather than jumping into planning execution itself. &nbsp;Tame problems can be solved. Wicked problems can only be tamed and that is what meta-planning is all about.</strong><br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dr.&nbsp;Dan Patterson is a Schedule and Cost Risk Analysis thought leader.&nbsp;He was the CEO and founder of BASIS, a project management company specializing in schedule and risk analytics, which was acquired in 2018 by InEight, Inc.&nbsp;Prior to BASIS, Dan led the highly successful organization Acumen, a project analytics company, and is the inventor of Acumen Fuse, Risk and 360, a project analytics software suite that is used for project planning quality improvement, performance insight, and forensics analysis.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dr.&nbsp;Patterson conducts risk workshops for billion-dollar projects and has subsequently served as an expert witness on many.&nbsp;During the execution of these engagements he leads qualitative and quantitative risk analysis, prepares and