Projects – The Price of Preparation

In one of my previous articles, Drug Addiction & Distressed Projects, I discussed three principles that recovering addict Michael Brody-Waite from ?“Great Leaders do what Drug Addicts Do” fame, lives by daily;

1. Practice Rigorous Authenticity
2. Surrender the Outcome
3. Do Uncomfortable Work

I discussed the ongoing need for doing the uncomfortable work in distressed projects and concluded:

“The second phase kicks in as the management of the distressed project gathers momentum. All the detail work, detail planning, rigorous reviews and risk management that was put off for later or glossed over, exactly because of its difficult nature, now has to be done. Choose not to do the uncomfortable work at your peril.”

But how do we avoid failing or failed projects altogether? How do we avoid a lot of the frustration, heart attacks, cost overruns, ruined careers and ruined business relationships that come with distressed, failing, or failed projects?

As a thought exercise I asked ChatGPT two questions.

The first answer told me what I already knew.

“…tens of thousands of academic papers, essays, and articles dedicated to this topic.”

So, if this is the case, surely, from all the academic work done to date one should be able to distil the primary cause for project failure.

Hence my second question.

I was disappointed with the answer to say the least. There has to be a reason that stands out when project failures are analyzed.

I had to rethink my approach. I reread the answer and point 1. Poor project planning, triggered another thought…

I have had the honor and privilege to attend training presented by the legendary WO1 J.J. "Koos" Moorcroft PMD, VRM, PMM, MMM. He was one of the 11 founding members of the South African Reconnaissance Commandos (a.k.a RECCE?, later South African Special Forces) in 1972 (https://sasfheritage.com/heritage-the-founders/), Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) of 5 Recce from 1978 to 1991 and retired as The Sergeant Major of the South African Army in 2001. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_Major_of_the_Army_(South_Africa))

Some of what I learnt on the course came to mind as I was contemplating project failure and the possible single biggest cause. His words kept echoing in my mind:

“Proper Planning and Preparation”.

The amount of emphasis that the Reconnaissance Commando a.k.a. Special Forces puts on proper planning and preparation cannot be overstated.

Why is this relevant to our discussion?

A Special Forces mission, like a project, is a collaborative enterprise with objectives, to be executed by a team, brought together for that purpose, within a certain time frame and with assigned resources.

If there are so many similarities between a Special Forces mission and a project, why is it then that Special Forces teams spend months training together, preparing, planning and rehearsing a mission of a couple of days’ duration. Whereas in stark contrast, project teams get cobbled together once the bid or tender has been won and then are expected to execute effectively on projects that span many months or years and rely on successful integration of a multitude of disciplines?

Sergeant-Major Moorcroft (Retired) stressed proper planning and preparation ad nauseum, maybe because he has experienced firsthand what catastrophic outcomes result from not doing the uncomfortable work upfront! Or maybe in his wisdom he understands that without proper planning and preparation success is not achievable, ever. Survival maybe, but not success.

Two specific instances from his training relating to proper planning and preparation stood out for me. The first is the set of questions any leader or manager should ask him or herself about the team.

1. Have I selected the right people?

Not, will I get by with the resources that are currently available in the organization that get assigned to the project that weren’t even involved in putting the proposal together, and then hope for the best.

2. Have I given them the right equipment?

?In a project context this relates to the systems & processes that support project execution. Does the organization’s systems and processes adequately support and enable efficient project execution, or does the team have to make up Excel spreadsheets as they go?

3. Have I trained them?

In the project environment, this relates to creating team cohesion and trust. Make the effort to get the team together and functioning as a unit. Have properly facilitated sessions instead of the awkward team speech over coffee or a paintball session that half the team loathes.

Note the use of the word “I”. Not we, not the company, not Human Resources, I, the Project Manager. If the organization is not supportive of this effort or at least willing to engage on identified shortfalls, be aware – it is not mature enough to understand the importance thereof and you will be left struggling when the wheels start coming off.

The second instance relates to the so-called internal project kick-off meeting (on most projects it is a poorly attended, poorly presented administrative nuisance). In Special Forces operations, prior to deployment, you have what is called a Warning Order.

Once all the months of training, preparation, rehearsing and planning are done the team is called together by a Commanding Officer by means of a Warning Order. This is nothing more than a DETAILED “project kick-off meeting”. The team gets together and formally work through ALL aspects of the mission in the minutest of detail to ensure that all team members know exactly what is expected, mission objectives, terrain & environment, other forces, admin & logistics (equipment & transport), communication protocol etc. The list goes on. (Remember, this happens after months of training, planning and preparation - they then still see a need for rigorous reviewing and reinforcement)

In the project environment we would do well to practice this level of rigor when preparing for projects and presenting internal project kick-off meetings - I am yet to experience it.

Although all of this is truly obvious, there never seems to be “enough” time or money to properly plan and prepare for project execution so it doesn’t get done. We then get to do the uncomfortable work when the project is in distress and stakeholders stand around wondering what went wrong.

What then is the price of preparation?

In contrast with special forces operations where the price of success largely relates to an absence of team member body bags, the projects environment is much more forgiving, it is only about time and money.?

The Construction Industry Institute has analyzed hundreds if not thousands of projects and their research shows that “The cost of FEP is typically 2-5% of total installed cost resulting in;

a) $3-$10 payback for every dollar spent on FEP,

b) 6-25% cost savings and

c) 6-30% schedule reduction.”

(Reference: https://www.construction-institute.org/resources/knowledgebase/knowledge-areas/project-planning)

The Construction Industry Institute has developed incredible tools to guide and assist teams and companies during the Planning & Preparation phase of a project. I have an almost fanatical belief in the value of one such tool, the PDRI, also known as Project Definition Rating Index. in the words of the C.I.I;

The Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) is a powerful, easy-to-use tool that identifies and precisely describes each critical element in a scope definition package. It also enables project teams to identify quickly the project risk factors related to desired outcomes for cost, schedule, and operating performance. By using the PDRI method, teams can capture mitigation action items and evaluate the completeness of scope definition at any point prior to detailed design and construction.

(Reference: https://www.construction-institute.org/resources/knowledgebase/pdri-overview )

So there you have it. The Special Forces community has understood the value of rigorous Front End Planning (FEP) for years, the Construction Industry Institute has calculated it and developed tools for it, all that remains is for us to start doing it!

“Choose not to do the uncomfortable work at your peril.”

With gratitude to one of the legends of the Special Forces community, Sergeant-Major J.J. "Koos" Moorcroft (Retired) for sharing his wisdom and experience.