If PM is “a process which contributes to the effective management of individuals and teams in order to achieve high levels of organisational performance” (Armstrong and Baron 2004), what does this mean when organisational performance is viewed as being an aspect of a complex system?
This paper seeks to outline the current dominant approach to the
performance management of social interventions: Outcome-Based Performance Management (OBPM). It then explores the meaning of complexity approaches, and attempts to articulate what is meant by a complex system. It then explores the way in which thinking of social interventions as existing within complex systems challenges OBPM. Finally, it identifies potential elements of a complexity-friendly approach to the PM of social interventions.