ERP Nightmares: a metaphor for life

I recently spoke with a colleague at a mid-sized company about their troubled ERP implementation. It started off badly and has since spiraled into a nightmarish labyrinth of despair. Throughout my career, I've implemented, migrated, and upgraded a few ERP solutions, and although they've had their challenges, I've always managed to avoid significant debacles. But, this conversation got me thinking, "When you're lost in a maze of never ending problems, how do you find your way out?"

And while I am speaking about ERP implementations, this advice holds true for just about any project or obstacle you encounter in business or in life...

ERP implementations often go off track for similar reasons: poorly defined scope, ineffective change management, or the wrong partner. However, each of these issues can manifest in different ways, and there may be multiple causes. Avoiding major problems requires strong leadership, business acumen, and effective communication skills. Getting a project back on track requires something even rarer.

Scope is the foundation of any ERP project. Poorly defined scope can cause significant problems down the line. Many things can go wrong in this initial step, but it often boils down to not including all stakeholders.

I spend a lot of my personal time on various woodworking projects, so I'm familiar with the adage "measure twice, cut once." This applies to ERP implementations as well. Planning is crucial to building a robust, scalable, and extensible solution. Make sure your plans are comprehensive and accurate and seek input from a wide range of perspectives. Don't assume that infrequent uses don't have valuable input. They may be responsible for downstream reporting or inputting data into other systems that feed into the ERP, but if you don't account for their needs, you will eventually hit a dead end.

Wayne Gretzky famously said, "Skate to where the puck is going to be." Every organization has strategic goals and an operational plan to achieve them. Understanding your current needs is essential to ensure your ERP platform doesn't become obsolete quickly. It's equally important to anticipate your needs a few years down the road and plan accordingly.

Occam's Razor is a 700-year-old principle that posits the simplest solution is always preferable to a complex one. While new ERP solutions offer extensive customization options, it's important to resist the temptation, especially at the outset. Start with the simplest solution that meets your requirements, focusing on an MVP (minimum viable product). Live with it for a while before introducing more complexity.

The principle of "fail fast" in software development can typically be applied more broadly. Building an MVP and testing it thoroughly allows your team to identify and correct problems quickly before they get lost in complexity. It also allows you to pivot quickly when you realize you're heading down the wrong path.

Change management is an essential process throughout any ERP project. Failure to manage change properly can have consequences just as serious as poor scope planning. Conversely, effective change management facilitates early warning alerts, allowing you to quickly address issues as they arise. Some examples of ineffective change management include overwhelming employees with change too quickly, assuming communication is the same as engagement, failing to consider how changes will affect employees' day-to-day work, failing to anticipate ongoing challenges after going live, and a lack of collaboration and consensus across departments.

It's no surprise that not all partners are created equally; it's important to ensure that your chosen system integrator has the expertise that aligns with your business needs. Define your high-level needs and critical requirements before selecting an integrator, even if they will ultimately take ownership of putting together the functional requirements. It's important to know whether your needs align with the integrator's specific expertise and experience in your industry or sector.

Look for integrators who have handled successful projects in businesses similar to yours and how they dealt with unexpected problems. Different integrators take different approaches, but it's important that their plan includes a change management plan, certified project managers, an industry-specific model to drive key metrics, and a cadence to deliver critical progress reports during the process. Post-implementation support is frequently overlooked, but problems after go-live can be even costlier than those during implementation. Negotiate and write into the contract the number of people who will provide support after go-live, whether they are in-house or contract personnel, and what kind of metrics will be provided about ongoing performance.

When things have gone off the rails, it's important to stop and identify the root cause of the problem(s).? As expressed so lyrically by Trey Anastasio, “If you can heal the symptoms but not affect the cause, it's quite a bit like trying to heal a gunshot wound with gauze”. Stop trying to fix symptoms; stop doing anything other than identify the root cause of the problem. This will not be easy. Leadership will not want to hear that you’ve stopped trying to “fix” the problem. It’s fair to assume that you are already months, if not years, behind schedule–and now you are going to suggest further delays. Yes, absolutely. The difference is that your delay is intentional, productive and will yield results, whereas, fixing symptoms causes endless, demoralizing and destructive delays.?

This approach requires confidence, a firm belief that the problems are addressable, and the capacity to tell executive management news they don't want to hear. Unfortunately, it seems quite rare for managers to exude that level of honesty and confidence. But, that is what it will take to find your way out.

Finding the root cause of ongoing problems is not simple, and chances are there are multiple problems compounding the challenge. Putting the project on hold can help stop the bleeding. Then, once you've identified the root cause, you can map a solution to navigate your way out of the maze to dreams of better days ahead.