{"id":555,"date":"2008-09-22T16:24:51","date_gmt":"2008-09-22T20:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/?page_id=555"},"modified":"2026-01-03T09:48:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T17:48:42","slug":"patterns","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/?page_id=555","title":{"rendered":"Behavioural Patterns"},"content":{"rendered":"

When failure occurs it is sometimes due to a single mistakes made in planning or executing the project. More often than not however, failure is the cumulative result of many mistakes. In such situations the mistakes are themselves often born out of a dysfunctional environment that sets the stage upon which mistakes can be made and that acts as a barrier to detecting and correcting the mistakes. The ‘pattern library’ below provides examples of the types of behavioural patterns that create dysfunctions.<\/p>\n

There are of course hundreds of other ‘patterns’ of behaviour that trigger problems. The following are provided as a start point to encourage people to look holistically at the events around then to understand how individual behaviour and group behaviour can sometimes lead to predictable results. By understanding these ‘patterns’ the mechanisms behind project failure can be better understood and hence skilled leaders are better positioned to guide their projects to success.<\/p>\n

\"Figure<\/a>
Figure 1 – Layers in project failure<\/strong>
(click for larger version)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the following list each pattern embodies a broad set of behaviours that negatively influences the way individuals, teams, groups and even whole organizations, make project related decisions and how people work together.\u00a0 The resulting problems interact with individual trigger events<\/a>\u00a0(mistakes) and the combined effects are the drivers of project failure (figure 1).<\/p>\n

The following page lists some of the more common patterns. If you’re new to the site, try reading our introductory article on the topic “Disaster DNA – Decoding the DNA of failed technology projects<\/a>” before reading the samples below.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Pattern Library<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following entries are examples of some of the most common patterns;<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. First option adoption<\/a>
    \nTeam fails to generate alternate ideas for how to meet the project objectives resulting in them settling for the first option they thought of rather than the best available option<\/li>\n
  2. Silos<\/a>
    \nBarriers between organizations and group lead to a breakdown in collaboration<\/li>\n
  3. The pressure wave<\/a>
    \nThe build up of schedule pressure due to inaction in the face of an impending fixed deadline<\/li>\n
  4. Disconnect failure
    \n<\/a>Project creates its intended deliverables, but those deliverables fail to deliver the intended business value<\/li>\n
  5. Top led failure<\/a>
    \nMistakes made by Senior Executives early in the project set the project on a course to disaster<\/li>\n
  6. Focal imbalance failure
    \n<\/a>One or more critical aspects of the project receives insufficient attention leading to failure<\/li>\n
  7. Bottom fed failure
    \n<\/a>Poor quality at the implementation level results in project failure<\/li>\n
  8. Alignment\u00a0failure
    \n<\/a>Different parties are focused on different goals (often unstated goals) resulting in\u00a0conflicts and misalinged\u00a0efforts<\/li>\n
  9. Schedule pressure failure
    \n<\/a>Excessive schedule pressure results in critical mistakes that otherwise would not have been made<\/li>\n
  10. Commitment failures
    \n<\/a>Project team makes unachievable commitments to schedule, budget and scope<\/li>\n
  11. Navigational failures<\/a>
    \nTeam lacks leadership and oversight in one or more dimensions<\/li>\n
  12. Intellectual disintegration failure<\/a>
    \nFailure to communicate results in individuals and groups having different understandings and heading off in different directions<\/li>\n
  13. Transitional failures<\/a>
    \nDeliverables are created, but the value the project hoped to create is lost due to an ineffective transition into the operational world and failure to track outcomes<\/li>\n
  14. The fast-forward freeze-out<\/a>
    \nThe failure to consult stakeholders during the planning process in order to expedite progress.<\/li>\n
  15. Green shifting
    \n<\/a>The tendency to report project status in positive terms despite growing indications that serious problems exist<\/li>\n
  16. Left shifting<\/a>
    \nKey strategic, architectural and organizational decisions are down played in favour of diving into the hard core development activities<\/li>\n
  17. Quality kaboom
    \n<\/a>Quality and testing activities are pushed to the end of the development cycle\u00a0rather than being seen as an ongoing activity<\/li>\n
  18. Techcentric myopia<\/a>
    \nTechnology aspects of the project\u00a0become primary focus while business and organizational issues are handled superficially<\/li>\n
  19. Gravitation<\/a>
    \nThe tendency to be drawn to back to our comfort zone<\/li>\n
  20. Poly-project blindness<\/a>
    \nFailure to recognise that a new project has different characteristics from prior experiences and hence needs to be managed differently.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So as a recommendation: Start observing. Look for the patterns. The workplace is a classroom and the more you understand human behaviour the better position you are in to become an effective leader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    When failure occurs it is sometimes due to a single mistakes made in planning or executing the project. More often than not however, failure is the cumulative result of many mistakes. In such situations the mistakes are themselves often born out of a dysfunctional environment that sets the stage upon which mistakes can be made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2213,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-555","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=555"}],"version-history":[{"count":281,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9916,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/555\/revisions\/9916"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calleam.com\/WTPF\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}