We often get called into project turnarounds. A restructure, rebudget, replan and a change of team, vendor or outsourcer ensue as part of the recovery exercise.
But we rarely u-turn the project.
More often than not the project intentions were sound - these were the ideals conceptualised on a back of an envelope or a hasty whiteboard session. There wasn’t much wrong with them.
And that’s when the problem starts - there’s a huge chasm to cross between the dawn of concept and the dusk of execution. That journey has to navigate budgets, egos, internal politics, hiring and procurement red tape, organisational change and conflicting interests. These hazards are so severe that it is a huge relief for the pilots (sponsor and project leaders) when they eventually get to the start line.
The compromises made, deals struck, ideals diluted and energy sapped can often doom the execution of the project from the get-go. Deeper analysis of alignment between stakeholders, sponsors, project leadership and key vendors shows cracks that will continue to open as unexpected challenges arise and (always later than it should be) this culminates with a demand to turnaround the project. So whilst we often get the call to turnaround it’s not what we do. We do a reboot. We reenergise and reset the plan, we always rebudget and often replace parties but generally we remain laser focused on the project ideals. In many cases the cathartic effect of a reboot coupled with the skills, experience and history of success is what‘s required to instil confidence and can-do to the battle weary so that the project can now be delivered.
You should never underestimate the importance of confidence. It might be a “softer“ and less tangible measure but it is as powerful as any other weapon in your armoury for keeping stakeholders at bay outside the walled garden of the project and making sure all parties within the walls continue to march to the beat of the project amplified by the original ideals.
A similar analogy is to consider a derailment of a train. You’d investigate, change how you do things, perhaps change the driver, controller or engineering but you’d put it back on the track in the same direction, with the same intention and a different schedule and continue the journey.
So we’d welcome the call, of course, to lead a turnaround, however, we’d likely deliver a reboot, a “ctrl-alt-del” to your project - it’s what we do.
Strategic IT is an advisory business focused at helping business leaders introduce change through effective technology and operations.
contact: Paul Krisman - CEO