I’ve project managed $100M projects. I’ve had some jobs come in on budget, in scope, and on schedule. I’ve also had a project fail miserably. I’ve had to kill projects. There are few things I’ve learned on why projects fail. I think I’ve made almost every project mistake. Here are some of them:
- Wrong project manager or team members on the wrong job.
- Prima donna or maverick team members.
- ‘Hole in the wall’ offices and facilities.
- Death march project mentality.
- Reinvent the universe project objectives.
- ‘Throw more people’ at the project attitude.
- ‘We’re all behind you’ attitude by stakeholders.
- Project creep and more creep.
- Gold plating requirements.
- Wish lists and more product goodies.
- I wanted it yesterday attitude.
- Fuzzy understandings – fuzzy everything.
- ‘It’s their job’ attitude.
- ‘Plan is a 4-letter word’ attitude.
- ‘Silver-bullet’ attitude.
- Too many surprises and gotcha’s.
- No or few controls.
- ‘I know it all’ attitude.
I’ve been on both sides of most of the above mistakes – perpetrator or victim. Quick takeaway: it’s better to be the perpetrator. You get to fight another day. However, if you find yourself on the victim side of the equation, start thinking of your Plan B.
Life Lesson Earned: Read some good books: Career Survival, Machiavelli’s The Prince, and Lao Tzu’s Art of War. You’ll get a different perspective on the project game.