TIME FOR A NEW PROJECT MINDSET

CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS

Due to the ever-changing marketplace and increasing global competition, public companies are going bankrupt and being delisted from trading exchanges at an alarming rate. Attribute it to the internet, globalization, software advances, robotics, wireless technology or whatever else you want, one thing is certain, we are living in a new world economy where companies, and even countries, are leap-frogging one another at a frantic pace. In approximately 30 years, the U.S. economy will drop to third in the world, while Japan and Germany will lose their coveted spots in the top five, if all goes as projected by numerous researchers. Figure 1.1 illustrates these changing times.

This new world economy is gobbling up businesses left and right that haven't adapted to this highly competitive, rapidly changing marketplace. Those still relying on traditional, outdated methods are setting themselves up for a rough road ahead, and the competition isn't slowing down for anyone.

Let's jump right in. What do these well-known companies and iconic brands have in common?

• Kodak

• TWA

• Trump Taj Mahal

• A&P

• Bennigan's

• WorldCom

• Lehman Brothers

• Radio Shack

• Blockbuster

• Toys "R" Us

• Nortel

• Washington Mutual

Yup, they are all bankrupt or are currently in bankruptcy proceedings. Kodak invented digital photography — bankrupt. Radio Shack was the only game in town at one point — bankrupt. The lines at Acme and Shop-Rite are a mile long, but A&P — bankrupt. Applebee's and Ruby Tuesdays are always crowded, but Bennigan's — bankrupt. This list doesn't even include those that were touted as too big to fail or others that were bailed out by government funds. Even well-established companies with renowned brands are not impervious to fluctuating worldwide market conditions. The companies that can adapt to this volatility — not necessarily the strongest or smartest — are the ones that will survive and flourish in this new world economy.

There's a reason why Jeff Bezos of Amazon became the richest person in the world at one point and remains in a constant battle with other billionaires for that coveted position. Even though Amazon didn't turn a profit for many years after its inception, Bezos maintained his vision, expanded the business with a laser focus on the customer, and explored innovative ways of differentiating his company. Amazon went from being an online bookstore to the largest Internet-based retailer in the world. Amazon has recently purchased Whole Foods in an attempt to transform the grocery business and is even researching and investing in drone technology for package delivery. All of this is happening while Toys "R" Us and other leading retailers are shutting their doors.

Organizations that remain competitive are the ones making smart business decisions regarding how they invest their money in strategic initiatives (i.e., projects) and how they manage those investments until the desired returns are realized. When you invest your money, what do you expect? Positive returns, of course. Well it's no different in the business world. Projects are the strategic investments that our companies make to achieve specific business returns to remain competitive in the global marketplace.

Effective project management is paramount to ensuring that our strategic investments are generating their intended results. So, how do you think we are doing? It sounds straightforward enough: you invest money in a project, and you expect to receive a positive business outcome — it's as simple as that. Well, here's the news — and it's not so good: far too many projects fail and create monetary losses for their companies, not nearly enough projects align with the overall corporate strategy, and very few companies report high benefits realization maturity.

We're not going to dwell on these gloomy trends, but we will use them to serve as a wake-up call to get our business and project affairs in order. Just as companies need to be highly adaptable to this ever-changing global economy, we as project practitioners need to embrace a similar approach. Let's investigate how.

IF IT AIN'T BROKE ...

... Don't fix it, right? WRONG! The mentality of if it ain't broke, don't fix it got us into this mess in the first place. Our projects are volatile endeavors filled with numerous uncertainties, dependencies, contingencies, and risks — not to mention the personalities and competing interests. They require a lot of attention! Let's look at what if it ain't broke, don't fix it does for our projects:

• Always reporting green status until all of those ignored, underlying issues come to the forefront — resulting in the project turning bright red

• Simply extending the due dates when they are missed — resulting in senior stakeholders demanding to know why we are a year into a six-month project

• Exceeding the project budget — resulting in executives scrambling to find more money to keep the project alive

• Closing out a project after a ton of hard work, time, and money — and then wondering if it was all worth it

It's time to shift out of cruise control and start driving our projects toward their intended business objectives; and this requires constantly adjusting the speed, the direction, and sometimes even the driver! Projects that just limp along without the required adjustments and improvements are sucking the lifeblood out of too many companies. In this ludicrously competitive new world economy, our project management mantra needs to shift from: If it ain't broke, don't fix it to:

If it ain't broke, fix it anyway!

Chances are, it's going to be broken soon enough. There are immeasurable amounts of moving parts with any project, so if you allow the possibility, it most certainly will become broken. Plus, there's always room for improvement with any project. Mull this over — the second you're done putting together a detailed project plan — it's wrong! The second you're done crafting a business case document — it's wrong! Gantt chart — yup, wrong! When developing these crucial project artifacts, you're actually predicting the future, and who in their right mind thinks they can predict the future with absolute certainty? They need adjustments and fine tuning...