The improvement paradox in project contexts: A clue to the way forward?

This paper emerged as the authors struggled to make sense of a phenomenonobserved during fieldwork. We had entered the field knowing a project-basedorganisation to be performing poorly and to be in need of improvement in itsmanagement of projects. We expected that the organisation would be activelytrying to achieve the necessary improvement. We found that the organisation as amatter of course was not pursuing any improvement activities. It was onlyfollowing a crisis with its major client that limited changes were introduced,and then business as usual resumed. This we have termed, the improvementparadox. The paradox exists because there are two systems of logic operating:that of the researcher in forming the expectation of change and that of theorganisation in not changing. Both of these systems provided insight. Ourexpectations reflected a bias for the logic that there was inherent goodness anddesirability in improving PM practices. Furthermore, we are actors in anenvironment that actively promotes improvement and provides mimetic, coerciveand normative pressures on an organisation to improve. The logic of theorganisation was founded on complicity - between the organisation and itsclient, and between multiple levels of the organisation. This complicity wasseen to be causal in maintaining a series of defensive routines - routines thatperpetuated the status quo. Further reflection revealed many paradoxes in theworld of projects and project management. Given the prevalence of paradoxesperhaps we should move beyond labelling these phenomena to explore them moredeeply and to contribute insights which better reflect the complexity andambiguity in project contexts.