The Practitioner’s Tapestry: Revealing the epistemological diversity to project management knowledge

Authors

  • Markus Krusi University of Southern Queensland Australia
  • Stephen Jonathan Whitty The Journal of Modern Project Management ARTICLE TOOLS Print this article Indexing metadata How to cite item Finding References Review policy Email this article (Login required) Email the author (Login required) ABOUT THE AUTHORS Markus Krusi University of Southern Queensland Australia Dr. Krusi is a PhD candidate at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. His research interest is in the area of the tacit and implicit knowledge used by project managers when they navigate through the complexities and uncertainties inherent in project work. His primary focus is on identify the mental models that create the basis for this knowledge. He is using art-based methodologies to elucidate how these mental models are formed in project managers. He is a Construction Manager with over 40 years of experience in the construction industry managing projects in Australia and overseas. Stephen Jonathan Whitty University of Southern Queensland Australia

Keywords:

theory of research into project management, epistemology, lived-experience, mental models, tacit knowledge, art therapy

Abstract

This case study investigates how the life experiences of a project manager has influenced their professional practice. The research methodology takes a phenomenological approach to an art therapy technique. We call it the Practitioner’s Tapestry, which comprise narrative with sketching sessions. The methodology revealed that close relationships with inspirational people in their formative years has influenced their practice, specifically in forming mental models that subsequently structures their behaviour towards others and their approach towards ‘doing things’. The results align with an important criticism about the epistemological and ontological assumptions of the various project management bodies of knowledge, as mental models and the tacit knowledge they develop do rightly constitute project management knowledge for dealing with the actuality of project work

Author Biographies

  • Markus Krusi, University of Southern Queensland Australia

    Dr. Krusi is a PhD candidate at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. His research interest is in the area of the tacit and implicit knowledge used by project managers when they navigate through the complexities and uncertainties inherent in project work. His primary focus is on identify the mental models that create the basis for this knowledge. He is using art-based methodologies to elucidate how these mental models are formed in project managers. He is a Construction Manager with over 40 years of experience in the construction industry managing projects in Australia and overseas.

  • Stephen Jonathan Whitty, The Journal of Modern Project Management ARTICLE TOOLS Print this article Indexing metadata How to cite item Finding References Review policy Email this article (Login required) Email the author (Login required) ABOUT THE AUTHORS Markus Krusi University of Southern Queensland Australia Dr. Krusi is a PhD candidate at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. His research interest is in the area of the tacit and implicit knowledge used by project managers when they navigate through the complexities and uncertainties inherent in project work. His primary focus is on identify the mental models that create the basis for this knowledge. He is using art-based methodologies to elucidate how these mental models are formed in project managers. He is a Construction Manager with over 40 years of experience in the construction industry managing projects in Australia and overseas. Stephen Jonathan Whitty University of Southern Queensland Australia

    Dr. Whitty is Associate Professor of Project Management at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. A particular focus of his research is to better understand the difference between how we actually experience project work and derive meaning from it and how we have culturally come to think about managing it, and how the disconnect between these may cause problems when we try to manage modern organisations. Jon has a principal interest in social and cultural evolutionary theory, and his research has helped reveal the ‘humanism’ in the complex behaviour of organisations. He publishes in journals and text books, and collaborates with a flourishing group of doctoral researchers

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2022-05-20

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Vol. 7 No. 2 (2019): The Journal of Modern Project Management

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The Practitioner’s Tapestry: Revealing the epistemological diversity to project management knowledge. (2022). The Journal of Modern Project Management, 7(2). https://journalmodernpm.com/manuscript/index.php/jmpm/article/view/JMPM02010

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