The 10 Commandments Of Project Success: Correcting Faulty Thinking and Assumptions!

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The 10 Commandments Of Project Success
Correcting Faulty Thinking and Assumptions!
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Presentation Purpose

• Understand why projects fail
• Look at how faulty thinking contributes to the
  problem
• Learn the commandments to resolve

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Typical Project Problems

• Long Time Frames
• Lack of Integration
• High Costs
• Errors Poor Quality
• Diminished Customer Satisfaction
• Poor Internal Communication
• Commitment of Resources
• Long Expensive Maintenance Cycles

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Standish Report on Project Success
Of 3,682 Applications Under Development

• 431 or 12 - will come in on time, within budget
  and contain the features and functions originally
  specified.
• 33 will experience cost overruns of 150 to 200
• 33 will experienced time overruns of 200 to 300
  
• 25 to 49 will contain required features and
  functions

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Problem 1 The Meaning of Project Success

• On time
• Within Budget
• To User Satisfaction
• Faster, Better, Cheaper

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Faulty ThinkingTired Definitions of Project
Success
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Effect of Definition of Project Success
Concerns.

• Construct project to be measured accordingly vs.
  the value they offer
• Plan projects so they complete on time / within
  budget vs. business needs
• Loose focus on what counts!

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Value of Definition of Project Success

• Black and white
• Measureable and clear
• BUT
• Serve long term objectives?
• How is value measured?

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Get Real About The Meaning of Project Success

• Decision making
• Priorities reflect whats needed
• Realistic budgets
• Value contributed to organization

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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The 1st CommandmentRedefine The Meaning of
Project Success

• Growth and competitive advantage of the
  enterprise
• Add value to the business
• Facilitate the use of the system
• Reflects end-to-end process
• Not detract from the well being of those involved

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Commandment 1BRedefine When You Decide If A
Project Is Successful

• Executive dashboard, checkpoints and operational
  status after implementation
• measuring the operating costs
• continuing value
• customer satisfaction
• problems, issues and concerns
• Hold people accountable for quality and value
  over time

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Problem 2 Piecemeal Patching, Modifications
and Maintenance

• Patching our systems to death
• Dont have time to do it right the first time
• Dont build systems based on value and need
• In a continuous cycle of fixing whats broken
  and creating new problems all the time

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Faulty Thinking We Just Cant

• Resources
• Deadlines
• Priorities
• Technology

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Effect

• Tomorrow never comes
• Business doesnt get whats needed
• Deteriorating quality
• Unhappy frustrated workforce

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Project Backlogs Impact Everyone

• Department
• Budget
• Future Work
• Staffing
• Business Performance
• Stock Prices
• Quality of Life

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The 2nd Commandment Get Rid of the Backlog

• Temporary Staffing
• Outsourcing
• Onshore / Offshore
• Training

Get a Clean Slate Clear Baseline
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Problem 3 Building a Plan Before You Know What
Needs To Be Done

• Given the Project Scope
• Given the Project Deadline
• Given the Project Budget
• Told Go Create A Project Plan

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Faulty Thinking Plans Typically Focus on
Administration

• Tasks
• Sequence
• Resources
• Timing
• Completion

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Plans Need To Reflect What Is Needed

• Investigation leads to more work
• Bad time to make that decision
• Cant make a decision until you know whats
  needed
• Real problem is perception. that it will take
  too long
• Quick win VS. long term value

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The 3rd Commandment Have To Know What Youre
Planning

• Understand problems to be solved
• Clarify goals to be achieved
• State opportunities to be realized
• Define requirements
• Build consensus

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Problem 4 Failure to Communicate

• Technical vocabulary
• Different backgrounds
• Different contexts
• Same terms / different meanings
• Different terms / same meaning
• Lost in translation
• Interpretation of important nouns
• And so many nuances to how words are strung
  together.

ALL INADVERTANT REASONS
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Faulty ThinkingBuilding and Maintaining a
Project Glossary Is a Nuisance

• It takes too long
• Everyone knows what those things mean.
• Lets not waste any time doing the obvious!!!!

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Effect Missed Communication

• Imprecise understanding
• Opportunity for confusion
• Information out of context
• Going different directions

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Align Terminology

• Terms
• Acronyms
• Abbreviations

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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The 4th CommandmentAlways Build And Maintain A
Project Glossary

• Align terminology
• Leave no room for interpretation
• Ensure communication connection
• Baseline for understanding and learning
• Prevents misunderstandings

NOUNS
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Problem 5. Theres A Lot Left To Misunderstand

• Concepts and content
• Options and alternatives
• Value and need
• Priority and sequence
• Approach
• Decisions

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Faulty Thinking Use Methodologies and Tools
Creates Clear Specifications
Ahh, Err - Solves other problems but not this kind
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Problem No Opportunity For Consensus

• Imperfect Knowledge
• Hear Information Out of Context
• Resistant to Change of Old Thinking
• Momentum , Interruptions and Long Time Frames
• Vested Interests and Priorities
• Disjointed, Old, Undigested Information
• Information limited by Exposures
• Thought Holes
• Lack of Ownership
• Reactionary Decision Making

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Consensus is a Togetherness Thing

• Two heads are better than one
• It takes a team to win
• You cant scotch tape ideas together

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All The Reasons Why You Cant.

• Waste of time
• Hard to get people together
• Costs too much
• Not productive
• Need to be at their jobs

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Collaboration is the ONLY Means to Achieve
Consensus

• Allow thought digestion
• Demonstrates management commitment
• Align terminology
• Single vision
• Expanded understanding
• Pride of ownership and buy-in
• Builds Camaraderie

• Improved productivity
• Cultivates team spirit
• Reduces time and cost
• Resolves politics and personalities
• Sets realistic expectations
• Exceptional quality
• Confidence in results

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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The 5th Commandment Collaborate To Ensure
Consensus

• Address electronic, verbal and written
  communication modes
• Ask, answer, see, hear, say, try, refine -
  INTERACT
• Uses experiential, audio and visual learning
  styles

Until everyone connects with ideas in the same
way
Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Problem 6 You Gotta Have the RIGHT People
Collaborate

• Cross functional stakeholders
• Technical representatives
• Experienced business users
• Movers and shakers
• Decision makers

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Faulty ThinkingSMEs Can Fill-in For Business
Users

• Cant speak on behalf of the business
• No substitute for first hand knowledge
• Stale information

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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The Value of IT SMEs

• Analysts that communicate well
• Understand business challenges
• Understand the business systems
• Interpreters and catalysts
• Provide technology improvement suggestions

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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The Value of the Business User

• Team member vs. intermittent player
• Intimate knowledge of operations
• First hand knowledge
• Vision of how it could / should be!

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Faulty ThinkingI Dont Want Charlie On This
Project

• Rude
• Controlling
• Disruptive
• Bossy
• Makes life miserable

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Invite Charlie To Be On Your Project

• Take away his/her power
• Wear them out
• Listen to them
• Part of the solution
• Contributor to the process
• Promoter of the cause

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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The 6th CommandmentInvolve the Best, the
Brightest and the Naysayers

• The quality of deliverables will be proportionate
  to the range of involvement
• Nobody understands the issues better than those
  who are actually involved
• Successful projects required cross functional
  teams

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Problem 7 Right People Have To Develop The
Right Solutions

• Merely recreate what you already have?
• Fine tune it
• Modernize it?

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So, How?

• Maximize investment
• Avoid lost opportunity

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WARNING
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Brainstorming
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Faulty ThinkingBrainstorming Is A Waste of Time

• Leads to scope creep
• Blue sky ideas
• Sets unrealistic expectations
• Hard to get people together

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Underrated Misunderstood Practice

• Access to alternative ideas
• Process to examine options
• Compare perceptions
• Challenge the status quo
• Forum to express thoughts
• Put information into context

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The 7th CommandmentBrainstorm For Quality

• Flush out ideas
• Encourage creativity
• Build on one anothers thoughts
• Never expose what you dont know
• Learn from one another

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Problem 8 The Quality of The Specification

• Pages of random bulleted thoughts
• Gothic novels that rot on a shelf
• Hotbeds of misunderstanding
• Dont explain process logic
• Neglect complete data definition
• Dont promote traceability

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

• Most people are visual
• Thoughts come in waves
• Negotiate for understanding
• Straw model - second hand experience
• Do it live to remember
• Final product as memory aid

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Specifications Should Enable Traceability

• Match test plans to requirements
• Confirm functionality and expectations
• Involve the business user
• Mandatory with outsourcing model
• Not possible with Gothic Novel

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Faulty ThinkingDont Make This More Complicated
Than It Has To Be

• Models are hard to do
• Which tool should I use?
• Whos going to keep them up?

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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The 8th CommandmentDemand 1st Class
Specifications

• Model driven approaches
• Integrated tool sets
• Owned by everyone
• Understood by all - training
• Check and verify

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Problem 9 Too Many Projects Spiral Out of
Control

• Time alters perceptions
• Refine ideas
• Things change.
• Acknowledge it
• Deal with it
• Be agile

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Faulty ThinkingIterative Development Is Really
Hard

• Not understood well
• Not mainstream yet
• Fear of change
• Rationalized as a fad

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Iterative Development Distilled Why?
Waterfall Sequential Really Hard To Turn
Back Investment to Keep Going
Analyze
Design
Build
Test
Deploy
Iterative One Component At A Time Flexible,
Agile, Accommodates Change
Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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The 9th CommandmentGo Iterative

• Attack risk early and continuously
• Plan for change
• Focus on executable software
• Baseline an architecture early
• Keep business users engaged
• Focus on quality throughout,
• Work as a cross-discipline team
• Process modeling and SOA

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Problem 10 A Bad Attitude Will Doom You

• Thought precedes action
• Positive attitude
• Ban negativism
• Stimulate challenge
• Breed pride of work
• Counter attach the serious I dont care
  attitude prevailing out there!

Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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Faulty ThinkingDonald Trumps, Its Just
Business.

• Good for the business owners but what about the
  people?
• Efficient, but do you really get the best?
• How long can people sustain in FUD?
• Competition as a way of life

You're Fired!
Aplan Inc., www.aplaninc.com, 949-720-9698
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10th CommandmentCultivate Cooperation vs.
Competition

• Inspire others
• Fun, Challenge and Excitement
• Promote cooperation vs. competition
• Learn from one another
• Build on each others ideas
• Leave out the negatives
• Appreciate others

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Questions????
Contact Information Inez J. Marino Aplan
Inc. ijmarino_at_aplaninc.com www.aplaninc.com 949.72
0.9698 Office