Lesson learned: Be careful what you measure and how you measure it.
Category: Project objectives / Decision making.
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 success rates.
I can...
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Why do projects fail
And now – A Message TO our Sponsors
The Sponsorship role is perhaps the most important in a project. The Sponsor owns the project and has a direct responsibility for ensuring that the desired business outcomes are achieved. In discussing project failures with people, one of the common complaints I hear is that the Sponsorship role is either non-existent or weak in their organizations. Ownership of projects is often unclear and no one really champions the project within the organization. Project Managers are left holding the baby a...
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Northern Rock Asset Management
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Northern Rock Asset Management - UK
Date : Dec 2012
Cost : £270M
Synopsis :
Sometimes, the devil really is in the details!
With a history dating back to the 1850's, Northern Rock Bank became part of the international news story when in late 2007 the company was engulfed in the sub-prime mortgage debacle. Triggering a "bank-run", panicked custome...
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Cheese and Onion – Frameworks for Analyzing Project Failure
When it comes to improving success rates, the commercial aviation sector has been one of the most successful. In 1930 taking a commercial flight was risky business. When you board a flight today, the chances of an accident taking your life is about 1 in 30 million. Through rigorous accident investigations and a willingness to challenge every facet of the problem, the industry has continually improved its safety record.
Sadly, success rates for the projects in today's businesses are far worse ...
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Sanctuary of Mercy Church – Borja, Spain
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Sanctuary of Mercy Church - Borja, Spain
Date : Aug 2012
Cost : Unknown
Synopsis :
Granted, this is the smallest project in the catalogue, but it is a good illustration of one of the most basic building blocks of a successful project: the need for people with the right knowledge, skills and experience! Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Elias Garcia Martinez w...
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Project Orca – 2012 US Presidential Campaign
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
2012 Mitt Romney Presidential Campaign - USA
Project name : Orca
Project type : Political campaign - Operations management system
Date : Nov 2012
Cost : Unknown
Synopsis :
The 2012 US Presidential election illustrates how the failure to properly test a key system can cause an embarrassing failure at a critical point in time. To help manage the logistics...
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Sinclair C5
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Sinclair Vehicles - UK
Project name : C5
Project type : Personal transportation device
Date : 1985 (filed under historical failures)
Cost : $12M, plus significant damage to the reputation of the Sinclair brand
Synopsis :
Sir Clive Sinclair was one of the visionaries who made personal computing a reality. Launched in 1980, his ZX-80 PC helped usher i...
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HealthSMART – Victoria
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Department of Health - Victoria - Australia
Project name : HealthSMART
Project type : e-health records
Date : May 2012
Cost : $566 Million AUD
Synopsis :
Efforts to integrate patient health records with functions for financial management, patient management, resource management and medical image archiving are stopped after the project exceeds its origin...
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US Census Bureau – Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) – Case Study
Read the full case study - US Census - Field Data Collection Automation Case Study - or read the abstract below.
Abstract
Requiring up to 1 million temporary workers to be hired, trained, deployed and managed, the US decennial census is one of the world's grandest administrative tasks. Taking a snapshot of American life, the census requires every living person in America to be accounted for. Conducting the census is a $10B project that takes a full ten years to plan, execute and complete. ...
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The Millennium Experience
The following entry is a record in the “Catalogue of Catastrophe” - a list of failed and troubled projects from around the world.
Millennium Experience and the Millennium Dome - UK
Project type : Public exhibition
Date : 2000 (filed under recent classics)
Cost : £789M (initial investment) - £189 (recouped from ticket sales)
Synopsis :
The Millennium Dome in London, UK was a purpose built structure created to house a year long "Millennium Experience" exhibition that was to celebrate...
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