This assignment targets 2 distinctive Project Life Cycle Models, the Adaptive and the Extreme, in terms of similarities,

differences, and the means to adopt either one in a given project. In order to dive into this comparison in its entire broad spectrum, one has to define each model and the means to assert to it in terms of its characteristics, its usage, its advantages, and its risk factors. Lets start with the Adaptive Project Management Life Cycle Model and its attributes. As the name prescribes, this model is an adaptive model; meaning, its core attribute is the adaptation of the means to establish it with the current factors affecting the project, whether it is external and/or internal. This model is defined by its known and defined goal and its unclear and ambiguous means of execution. It is best defined by having a client with a clear vision of what he or she wants, given certain constraints, from budget, resources, and time, but without the knowledge of how to go about the execution of this project. The client involvement in this model is imperative and it affects the scope of work that is not defined but that has a clear understanding of the goal of the project. Here lies the risk factor for this type of models when it comes to the means of execution. The client, as said, is involved throughout the process and his or her inputs for the execution is highly counted for, and accordingly, the PM takes them into consideration and evolves/adapts the solution accordingly. This model is mainly used in construction projects where the client has a clear vision of what he or she wants but have no idea of how to go about it. An example that can be said here is a situation we had in my company in Lebanon, where we were approached with a client who owned a piece of land in a highly residential area in Beirut, and this client wanted to build a residential building on his lot, but did not know how and when this could be established, but he had, however, a certain budget to spend on the construction of the building. What we did, initially, is an estimation of the land, its surrounding, and the market in that specific area. We then conveyed the report to him and explained what we believed is the proper means of executing this project. After we finished the analysis and got the clients approval for the go ahead, we commenced working on the design of the building. We planned the entire building according to specifications that we set depending on the budget he has allocated for the project; but while we were in the process of finishing the design, the client informed us that he was capable and willing to increase the proposed budget for the project allowing us to include some commercial shops at the basement level of the building. We then maneuverer the designs to accommodate the clients new needs and worked accordingly. Many other small details varied as we progressed in the project, but I consider that this particular project is a perfect example that I underwent of an Adaptive Project Management Life Cycle. Moving on to the Extreme Project Management Life Cycle, I would like to say that I have had similar experiences, but unfortunately, my experiences with this model are limited if not nil. This model is based on an unclear goal, unclear means, and the client has some sort of an idea but stops short of formulating it. For this, I will only mention what I believe is an example of this life cycle. In a project I mentioned earlier in this course, the construction of villas on a Mountain in Lebanon, and while we were in the process of finishing the external works for one of the villas, the client had a change of heart regarding the stone cladding and decided that he wants to apply a Stucco layer for the building. We had already finished the plaster coat ready to receive the Stone Cladding, and changing the materials used for the external finishes at this point would be both costly and time consuming. For this, I managed to build a small mock-up sample for the client showing him that if we did half the villa stone and the other half stucco, we would be getting the best out of both materials, and they would go perfectly well together. After some thinking, the client agreed and we continued the works accordingly. After this prolonged introduction, I will now move to listing the similarities between the Adaptive and the Extreme Project Management Life Cycles. 1- The solution, in both models, is unclear and is left to the client and the Pm to decide as they go along. 2- Client involvement in both models is a key factor in the execution of the project; for example, in the adaptive, the project is client based and client driven; where the clients involvement is at each stage critical and it starts with the planning phase and goes on during each execution one. In the Extreme, however, there is a higher level of

client involvement, since neither the solution nor the means are clear, and the client is required to be up-to-date on all levels from the PM in order to decide accordingly what to do next. 3- Planning, scoping, launching, monitoring and closing are present in both models; and all the work is dependent on these 5-process group. 4- Planning phase for both models is a key component in the execution of the related works. Since there is no clear vision as to how to achieve the desired results, the planning phase is crucial in order to set some sort of a path, agreed upon by the client, allowing the PM to plan in advance how he or she will execute the next phase. This also allows for a certain degree of teams creativity, especially in the Extreme, allowing the client to see, maybe for the first time, what the project is about. Differences between these 2 models: 1- The Adaptive, although does not have a clear vision, similar to the Extreme, however it has a clear goal or aim, and the main concern of the client and the Pm is to achieve this goal in the best suited technique. While the extreme, given its complexity, has neither a goal nor a vision, and is dependent on the PM and the clients collaboration to achieve some results with the money and time spent. 2- Given that the goal is clear in the adaptive model, it allows the client to have a set budget and timeline for the execution of his or her project; while this luxury is nowhere to be found in the extreme, and the client, as mentioned before, has to depend on the reports and the progress reports of the work done by the team. 3- The Extreme model does not have a set time to achieve results, nor does it have any set value on the works committed. For example, in the Research and development Projects, some times complete works are disregarded when no result is achieved, and this differs from the Adaptive which has set timeline to see results achieved. All in all, these two models, although might seem similar in nature and in the fact that both fall under the Agile Project Management (APM), they differ in the conceptual nature, since one is mainly used in Construction Projects of a complex nature, and the other, though it can be used in similar projects, it is always better to be used in research and development projects that does not require results immediately, and would allow for various variations to take place, taking into account the fundamental changes that might sweep the entire project from its base and allow the PM and the client to start over.

Effective Project Management, Wysocki, 2009 Edition (pages 297 486)