If I had received over the years a penny for every time I have heard PRINCE2 being criticized as being “waterfall”, “Top Down” or “Paper Intensive” I would by now be in retirement. I have always found such comments frustrating because PRINCE2 is none of these things and if applied intelligently it delivers results.
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Invariably such insults are born out of ignorance, inexperience and, more importantly, frustration when Project Managers finding themselves in a constant cycle of delivering project failures rather successes. In such situations it is no surprise that there is a temptation by battered Project Managers to blame the tools and methods they are using rather than looking at themselves and the organisational and people constraints which so often cause project failures.
This response to frequent project failure is perfectly understandable, but has driven the IT industry into a constant state of flux concerning the “What” and the “How” where project management is concerned. Nearly every year some new Project Management technique /method is launched in an attempt to respond to this never ending desire to find a “Magic Bullet” solution for high project failure rates.
The sad thing about these yearly paradigm shifts is that so many of these new techniques and methods sell their “Magic Bullet” concepts by attracting interest at a personal level (how this can help you) rather than focusing on empirical or results based selling approaches focused on the organisation.
Rarely do you see these new frameworks, methods and techniques focus on the how they improve delivery in accordance with project drivers common to all projects:-
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So often these sales presentations focus on flaky sublimable messages that their new remedy for relieving your project management pain and suffering will be a low octane (low political risk) solution which offers “No Sweat” delivery success for
- Minimal project management skill (you don’t need to be a Jedi)
- Reduced Project Management effort (going home on time)
- Minimal Personal Risk (you don’t need to say “NO” so much or change hearts and minds)
- You will love it and your project team will volunteer to adopt it.
- And delivers rapid results.
You would think that intelligent people would see such paradigm shifts as “too good to be true” especially when, in many circumstances, they debunk old well-established practices without properly understanding them. In many cases they overturn years of accumulated knowledge in a 45 minute presentation without examining these methods and their historical performance. For example, many of these traditional methods have put men on the moon. However, these facts are all often glossed over by the seductive drive to deliver paradigm change on the basis that all change equals :-
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Looking at recent Project Failure Rate Statistics none of these convulsive changes in project management practices have improved persistent 70% IT Project Failure rates, and have done nothing in my view but create a smoke screen on the premise “improvement is just around the corner” and “Eldorado is within sight” when nothing of the sort is happening in reality.
The frustrating thing is that the answers have always been staring people in the face, but the problem is the truth is often unpalatable and not profitable for consultants to pedal. The truth concerning what works is to be found in the engineering and construction industries where PRINCE2 or PMP type project management practices are properly established, and centuries of cumulative regulation and knowledge is valued, adjusted and modernised with a focus on the need to deliver improved deliver outcomes.
It is therefore not surprising that when I have undertaken maturity audits over the years I have found that many successful IT projects are delivered by project managers who have transitioned from Engineering and Construction Project Management.
They know that PRINCE2 and PMP methods /frameworks properly tailored, deliver repeatable project deliver success when combined with the following Project Management attributes:-
- Project Management Domain knowledge – PRINCE2 or PMP certification
- Practical Implementation & Method Tailoring experience
- High Intelligence
- High Energy & Propensity for hard work
- Attention to detail – Small moving parts matter
- Willingness to accept personal risks in order to break down barriers to delivery
- Professional integrity and a focus on Transparency
- Soft Skills especially management through facilitation rather than top down direction
My Slogan for success these days is
“Wake up. Let’s Get back to Basics”.
We must stop reinventing the wheel, focus on what works, and start talking to other industries where project success is the norm.
I hope within my lifetime that the IT industry gets back to the basics (project management is not rocket science) and we start to compete with the level of project failure rates we see in the Engineering and Construction industries.
© 2011, Kingsmead Internet Investments Ltd. All rights reserved.