34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) - Singapore, Singapore - 2026

https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0236

To improve performance in complex environments, you must first understand ambiguity

Jared Chesterman1 & Cecilia Gravina Da Rocha2

1Director and Co-Founder, ProgressAmp, Australia, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0004-1461-4991
2Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering & IT, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0001-6764-1724

Abstract

Construction delivery has traditionally treated ambiguity as a defect to be designed out through greater definition, risk transfer, and compliance to plan. Building on the IGLC complexity stream, this paper argues that this logic is increasingly inverted in major projects delivered through multi-organisation, multi-discipline systems. In complex work, ambiguity is not only a lack of information in documents, but a normal operating condition shaped by both indeterminacy in the work itself and divergent interpretations across dense stakeholder interfaces. Drawing on Cynefin, Lean Construction complexity literature, and cognitive science, the paper explains why ambiguity persists even when technical scope is clarified, and how fragmentation of scopes, contracts, and responsibilities can stabilise local certainty while reinforcing cross-boundary misalignment. This misalignment may remain locally coherent yet systemically incompatible, accumulating as coordination debt that later appears as rework, delay, escalation, claims, and exhaustion. The paper concludes that reducing ambiguity in complex work is not a one-time front-end task, but an ongoing need. LPS and Scrum are interpreted as recurring convergence mechanisms that use cadence, transparency, planning readiness, and learning loops to shorten the lifespan of misalignment and improve delivery reliability.

Keywords

Last Planner® System, complex/complexity, psychological safety, agile/scrum, cognition.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Chesterman, J. & Rocha, C. G. D.. (2026). To improve performance in complex environments, you must first understand ambiguity. In Hamzeh, F., Poshdar, M., & Garcia-Lopez,, N. P. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) (pp. 1217–1228). https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0236

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Chesterman, J. & Rocha, C. G. D.. (2026). To improve performance in complex environments, you must first understand ambiguity. IGLC34. https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0236

 

Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

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