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Project Failure is a Process Problem, not a People Problem

wmmonroe@... 2nd Dec

@John238

Possibly the most detrimental aspect of how we deal with project failure is the defensive proclivity of pointing fingers and assigning blame. There's usually plenty of blame to go around.

Instead of trying to figure out who's at fault we would be better off figuring out WHAT went wrong and adapting our process as needed to try to do better the next time. Project failure is a Process problem. There are two logical possibilities:

1) The process is incapable and therefore cannot result in project success.
2) The process is capable but the participants are unable to effectively execute it (lack of training, capacity, timeline, etc., all ultimately process-related).

The third possibility is sabotage, which is a totally different challenge.

Unfortunately, the mechanism that would allow for proper analysis of the process is usually not given enough respect. This mechanism is the project post-mortem which, when properly executed closes the loop in the continuous process improvement cycle.

Bill Monroe, Project Portfolio Excellence, Inc.