Verena Stingl
Thinking is for doing: project cognition as the foundation of project behaviour.
Stingl, Verena; Gilchrist, Alicia; Lawani, Ama; Flin, Rhona; Zwikael, Ofer
Abstract
Cognition, understood as the way the mind acquires, processes, and enacts information, is at the root of all behaviour. Yet, while the interest in behaviour in projects is increasing, these cognitive foundations are often disregarded or only haphazardly investigated in project research. This essay calls for a stronger engagement with cognition in projects, leveraging the insights from general and applied cognition sciences to explore, explain, and predict project behaviour. We emphasise that it is not differences in the thinking itself, but differences in the context in which the thinking is applied, that makes projects a relevant and distinct area in which to study cognition. To sketch a way forward, we establish key terms, illustrate phenomena from project behaviour which might benefit from a study through a cognitive lens, and introduce appropriate theories from cognitive science. The insights generated from such research with attention to 'project cognition' are particularly valuable for practice as they help to design project environments that align with how people in projects make sense of their world and interact with it.
Citation
STINGL, V., GILCHRIST, A., LAWANI, A., FLIN, R. and ZWIKAEL, O. 2025. Thinking is for doing: project cognition as the foundation of project behaviour. International journal of project management [online], 43(1), article number 102678. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102678
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Jan 30, 2025 |
Online Publication Date | Jan 31, 2025 |
Publication Date | Jan 31, 2025 |
Deposit Date | Feb 3, 2025 |
Publicly Available Date | Feb 3, 2025 |
Journal | International journal of project management |
Print ISSN | 0263-7863 |
Electronic ISSN | 1873-4634 |
Publisher | Elsevier |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 43 |
Issue | 1 |
Article Number | 102678 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2025.102678 |
Keywords | Project behaviour; Cognition; Information processing; Project management |
Public URL | https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2695369 |
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Publisher Licence URL
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Version
Final VOR uploaded 2025.02.07
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