All our projects fail. Every. Single. One

No, I didn't say it and it's not about RNC.

It was expelled with a sigh by a CEO slumped in front of me.

"What can I do? People aren't listening, I find out about problems too late to help and nothing, absolutely nothing, is getting completed as planned."

I let him talk for a while. It was clear he was exhausted, frustrated, worried, and confused.

By the time our drinks were finished I'd barely said a word.

When he stopped I gently asked a few questions.

• What happens when you start a project?
• How are people allocated to projects?
• What's the reporting like?
• Do you use any methods or tools exclusively?
• Are you approachable?
• What would the sponsors and PMs and others say about projects at X?
• What happens when someone tells you there might be a problem?

At the end of these questions I gave him one suggestion and offered to have a close look if he likes.

My one suggestion?

"Don't describe the project as needing x. Instead describe it as allowing y."

He looked at me quizzically. And asked, "What do you mean?"

I replied, "well, most people talk about a project as building a new product, changing a system, getting a marketing campaign out, acquiring and merging a new business, or simply closing something down. It doesn't matter what the project is, most people describe them as an end point. In my opinion that's what happened with the moon landing. Man achieved the end of that project but no thought had gone into why. Anyway, I digress, the first and most basic thing with any project is to talk about the reason you're doing it. Not the end of the project, but what happens when you get there. Some examples are,

• we'll be able to sell A units in B markets within C time with D margin. That's a really different project to, let's build a new product.
• we'll be able to centralise our customer data and provide targeted communication to them without duplication or it being irrelevant. It's not just a system it's a capability that can can judged as delivered or not.
• when this plant closes we'll have saved A$ and we'll be manufacturing in three new sites. A totally different perspective to simply closing down a plant.

I could go on, but the magic is in the reason for the project. It allows the people involved to think about the bigger picture, to bring decisions to you which might blow the budget or the time but get you exactly the outcome you want.

It's about perspective.

Could you try it?"

He said he'll think about it. I don't know whether he will or not. It's hard to change the way you look at things, and even harder when there is the weight of years of project people telling you how to run projects. But I know this:

Every single successful project I've look at has had at the start a clear statement of the reason for the project.

And every single person working on those projects has been able to articulate and understand the real reason for doing it.

We parted with him giving permission to write this up as long as I stripped the identifying information. I hope I've done that well enough.

Just call, email or message me if anything doesn't make sense or you'd like to explore the real reason for your current project.