http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2008/01/11/854/ The magazine for the project age Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:45:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2008/01/11/854/#comment-20709 Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:20:22 +0000 http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2008/01/11/854/#comment-20709 Diana, you sure give a good example of the problems caused in an organization by different perceptions of success. I ran into a very similar «sad» situation during one of my PM workshops for a Processed Food Company (mainly milk transformation). They have on the Canadian market now one of the most successful new soft cheese produced from raw milk: the star of their new products. However, the «new product development» project manager who delivered this wonder with his team was blamed for not respecting the initial schedule and budget. My feeling and that of the people reporting this situation to me was that, if he had focused on delivering the initial «constraints» (that is what schedule and budget are, not «objectives») instead of on delivering a market winner (which was the initial intention, the real objective to preserve), he would have been a hero.... and the marketing people, stuck with pushing a bad cheese on the market, would have been the ones blamed. Two different internal stakeholders, measured using two different success criteria that are not mutually exclusive but are often considered as such. Very sad indeed...So the final user, me (the consumer), will thanks this project manager for this fabulous cheese if ever I meet him. Diana, you sure give a good example of the problems caused in an organization by different perceptions of success. I ran into a very similar «sad» situation during one of my PM workshops for a Processed Food Company (mainly milk transformation). They have on the Canadian market now one of the most successful new soft cheese produced from raw milk: the star of their new products. However, the «new product development» project manager who delivered this wonder with his team was blamed for not respecting the initial schedule and budget. My feeling and that of the people reporting this situation to me was that, if he had focused on delivering the initial «constraints» (that is what schedule and budget are, not «objectives») instead of on delivering a market winner (which was the initial intention, the real objective to preserve), he would have been a hero…. and the marketing people, stuck with pushing a bad cheese on the market, would have been the ones blamed. Two different internal stakeholders, measured using two different success criteria that are not mutually exclusive but are often considered as such. Very sad indeed…So the final user, me (the consumer), will thanks this project manager for this fabulous cheese if ever I meet him.

]]> http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2008/01/11/854/#comment-20706 Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:54:38 +0000 http://www.reformingprojectmanagement.com/2008/01/11/854/#comment-20706 As a project manager, I'm always interested in the statistics about how many projects are successful, and what exactly does success mean, anyway? I heard a speaker last week who stated the "Big Dig" and "DIA" (Denver Airport) were both total failures. From a cost/schedule point of view these projects definitely missed the mark. But I had to disagree with his conclusion, that they were total failures. Both projects produced something of worth in my mind. Thanks to Claude for a good reminder of the importance of working closely with all the stakeholders to make sure my projects will be in those considered a success. As a project manager, I’m always interested in the statistics about how many projects are successful, and what exactly does success mean, anyway? I heard a speaker last week who stated the “Big Dig” and “DIA” (Denver Airport) were both total failures. From a cost/schedule point of view these projects definitely missed the mark. But I had to disagree with his conclusion, that they were total failures. Both projects produced something of worth in my mind.
Thanks to Claude for a good reminder of the importance of working closely with all the stakeholders to make sure my projects will be in those considered a success.

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