The Iceberg Beneath Your Project

Lessons from the Long Haul

There is a delicate balance between jumping into a big project quickly, gaining momentum, and taking deliberate and often slower steps forward. I’ve felt the pull of energy to rush ahead when something seems to have the right people involved and the resources behind it. Only to find out later that details like the lead or presumed host is not fully on board, or some partners that should have been included are left out. I hear about this type of scenario frequently from those working on climate-related projects because there too the issues are urgent and so often under-resourced.

Bent and colleagues reviewed thousands of mega projects for his book. The number one takeaway that I think applies to small-scale, yet ambitious, projects is to invest more time in the planning phase. Doing so will help avoid costly mistakes in the execution phase.

The other thing I’d add is to get clear on the issue as part of your planning phase. I’ve worked with teams that pushed through on delivering a big project database, which took a lot more time and resources than anticipated. Only to realize afterwards that the projects were really looking for ways to connect with each other when working in a particular location. Did the database help toward this goal? Sure, it did help individual projects know what else was going on in a particular location. It did not fully solve the issue of those projects making direct connections with each other so that they could coordinate and do more bundling of resources, like equipment and people.

What can be useful here is a systems thinking model that seeks to understand the event or inciting incident — asking the questions of “what issue you are trying to solve”, identifying what the underlying causes are, and “what resources do you have” could save your team time and amplify your impact.

Field-Tested: The Iceberg Model for Project Planning

Drilling deep on understanding an event or issue before you start down the path of solutions can serve dual purposes. It can lead you to understanding more fully deeper underlying causes, illuminate different perspectives, and can help get everyone on the same page.

CRISIS

This is the tip of the iceberg that is above the water; the 10% that you can see.

What is the crisis that you observe or experienced?

Example: Community members are coughing from exposure to wildfire smoke. You could address it by wearing a mask when outdoors but that is treating the symptom.

TRENDS

Below the crisis level, this is noticing if similar events are taking place over time.

What trends are taking place over time?

Example: Wildfire seasons are becoming longer and more intense in the Arctic over the past decade.

FRAMEWORKS

These might be physical things, organizations, policies, or habits.

What has influenced the trends and what relationships might connect the dots?

Example: Forest management practices, housing development in fire-prone areas, climate change impacts on local weather patterns.

WORLDVIEWS

The mental models are the beliefs and values from society or family that allow frameworks to continue functioning.

What beliefs do people hold that keep the system in place?

Example: Fire suppression is always better than prescribed, controlled, or cultural burns.

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When you are project planning: Stop, pause, and consider at what level you are responding and might there be another way to approach the issues. The iceberg model for systems thinking can help you dig deeper before attempting to visualize the full project or trying to identify desired outcomes.

Signals & Shifts

​Fast and Slow Thinking #237 by Sketchplanations. Fast thinking happens to you and slow thinking is something you do. Wise words from Daniel Kahneman that remind us when to pause and when to proceed in our project planning

The sound of the Arctic is changing: Calving icebergs are the loudest natural source of noise in the Arctic. Take a listen to this 45-second recording by scientist Evgeny Podolskiy—a reminder that even beneath the surface, profound shifts make themselves heard.

This week's reflection: What project are you rushing toward that might benefit from deeper systems thinking first?

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Take good care of yourself and the work that's yours to do. Both matter more than you know.

Nikoosh

Work That Lasts arrives every other Wednesday. Forward to a colleague who might need these tools, or reply and let me know what's working in your own practice.

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