Why Projects Really Fail - and What to do about it.

What are the real reasons why projects fail ?

In Reality it is Rarely Because of the Usual Suspects -

Methodology -there are many well supported methods available which would ensure success.

Technology - in itself this is rarely the cause of failure but rather the way it is implemented.

Scope Creep - again it is the way a project mis-handles this that is actually the problem.

The Real Reasons are mainly due to Human Behaviours.

These behaviours or problem scenarios can be divided into 3 main categories -

  1. Management Problems such as -

a.Poor Decision Making e.g. making decisions which are not in the interests of the project but rather those of an individual or group. Or -

b.Bad Organisation e.g. organising the project for the benefit of specialist groups. Or -

c.Resources e.g. accepting the wrong resources onto a project for personal reasons.

2. Environment Issues such as -

a.Company Politics e.g. when things are done which have no obvious logic to them from a project perspective. Or -

b.Fashion i.e. when decisions are made which are about following the latest fashion or trend rather than what is best for the project.

3. Ego Driven such as -

a.Superheroes i.e. the individuals who appear to go beyond normal effort but are really just manufacturing work to look good. The project usually suffers. Or -

b.Dog with a Bone i.e. the scenario where an individual will keep something to themselves rather than share in order to gain personal kudos.

What to do about it ?

The first thing is to be aware of the many different problem scenarios that can and will occur on any project.

Then to actively look for them and to be able to identify when they are happening on a project.

Having identified a problem scenario there must be mechanisms to hand to deal with them. For advice on how to do this see below.

537 Solutions Ltd

The assessment above of why projects really fail is a short extract from the book - “Project Failure - Why Humans can’t do projects and what to do about it” by the author and project consultant - Manus G.MacManus. It is based on over 30 years of real world project experience.

The book describes in detail the many different problem scenarios which can occur on a project, how to identify if they are happening on your project, and some suggestions on how to deal with them.

It also includes “Project Bingo” - a (slightly tongue in cheek) way for staff on a project to raise the fact that these scenarios are happening. This has the benefit of flagging up to management that these problems are occurring without staff having to ‘put their head above the parapet’.

Also by the same author is the book-

“Digital Transformation: From Chaos to Clarity”. This is an easy to follow guide to building the solid foundations needed to initiate a Digital Transformation project.