High
Security
Great
Uncertainty
Unclear
Clear
Technology „How“
Requirements „What“
Always agile?
BASICS
Stacey complexity
Matrix
In order to arrive at an initial
assessment of a project and to be
able to decide which procedure is
probably the most effective, the
Stacey Matrix offers a good
orientation.
SimpleHere is the area for simple projects. Results and developments can be easily predicted.
Simply apply best practices here.
ComplicatedRequirements become unclear or the technology becomes more uncertain.
Here, requirements have to be collected in detail, analyzed and further steps planned in detail.
The behavior and interrelationships between cause and effect can be predicted. This is rather the
area of application for classic project management with classic Project Life Cycle, e. g. according
to PM Book
ComplexThe more unclear the requirements and uncertainties of the technologies become,
the more you get into the complex area. Cause-effect relationships cannot be predicted and are
only accessible after analysis. The dynamics of change are high. In this case, agile procedures,
e. g. Scrum, can be used to approach planning and implementation in defined cycles (sprints).
After each sprint, a check is made to see whether the framework conditions have changed and,
if necessary, adaptations are made immediately and adaptively.
Chaotic In this area, things are rather random. Cause and effect relationships cannot be
predicted in advance or subsequently identified. However, through appropriate measures (lean
startup, hypothesis building, experimentation, learning) projects can be moved out of this area by
applying more familiar technologies and creating greater clarity in the requirements.
