Although I’m not a great fan of taking concepts from the manufacturing sector and bending them so they can be applied to the IT sector, the idea of “push” versus “pull” processes is one that is worth considering. The concept of push versus pull comes from the field of lean manufacturing and is used to identify who in a chain of manufacturing processes is requesting work to be done. In the factory environment work is broken down into discrete processes which are linked together in a chain. Raw ma...
More
Management
Rickety Retrospectives
Lesson learned: Seek out root-causes of project failures, not just surface symptoms.
Category: Retrospectives / Organizational learning
The following post is a “Lesson Learned” that comes from the analysis of the failed projects documented in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” or from the experiences the editorial team have had working with clients around the world. The post is published here to spark discussion and help individuals and organizations think about what it takes to improve project ...
More
And “Voila”
Implementing a process improvement initiative within an organization is an activity fraught with difficulty. On paper it sounds easy. Define the new process, document it, publish it, do some training and voila. In practice, most organizations struggle with the “voila” stage.
Of course the problem comes down to culture change. Culture change is the dark place where deeply entrenched patterns of behavior do battle with the concept of change. Unfortunately, in most cases “entrenched patterns” t...
More
Disconnect Failures
Projects are about creating value but that simple fact often gets lost due to the emphasis we place on schedule and budget. Although schedule and budget are important, where they become a project’s primary focus we run the risk of triggering a “disconnect failure”. Disconnect failures occur when a project delivers its deliverables, but the connection between those deliverables and the actual creation of value gets lost.
Disconnect failures are unfortunately all too common. Likely because sche...
More
Beginner’s Mind
At the recent Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Lisamarie Babik of Menlo Innovations gave an excellent talk entitled “Beginners Mind”. For those not familiar with the expression, the term refers to the open and receptive state of mind that we have when we’re beginners at something. The concept is based on the observation that beginners approach things differently from those who see themselves as experts. Where beginners are receptive to new ideas, try to think...
More
Broken Windows
There's a theory that says that where small indiscretions are ignored, larger ones will follow. The theory, known as the “broken window” effect, is most often illustrated using crime as an example. The argument says that if a building has broken windows and those windows are left unattended, the presence of the broken glass will encourage vandals to break more windows. If repairs are still not carried out, the message to the community is that no one really cares and that then leads to an escalat...
More
The Leadership Pendulum
One of the trends I’ve noticed over the years has been the growing importance of the Project Management role. When I first started work more than 20 years ago, many projects were lead by a Technical Leader rather than a Project Manager. Today most projects have a dedicated Project Manager.
The change is likely a reflection of the fact that many past failures could be attributed to poor planning and control. While appointing a dedicated Project Manager has clear benefits, we need to be careful...
More
The Cycle of Failure
After the firefights subside and a troubled project finally draws to a close, many organizations hold an inquiry into what went wrong. In theory retrospectives help identify root causes so that subsequent projects can avoid repeating the same mistakes. In practice, despite the reviews, many organizations find they lurch from one troubled project and onto the next.
In many cases this failure to learn can be traced to the narrow perspective from which reviews are usually done. More often than ...
More