Andrew Zirkin, a Search Engine Optimisation expert, was interviewed on the podcast show, Entrepreneur On Fire. During the interview, Andrew tells how a friend of his used this metaphor to describe how he went about launching a new product: you climbed Everest but did it in shorts and flip-flops.
Without proper planning, Project Leaders can suffer the same fate, where they officially complete a project, but do so in a very difficult and expensive way. Seeing as we find ourselves in an unforgiving business world, a world that doesnât always suffer fools, one such mistake may bring a Project Leaderâs career to an abrupt end (in project-speak, a premature close).
What are some of the sayings youâve heard regarding planning?
A common one says, to fail to plan is to plan to fail. One saying that I often hear was mentioned by John Dumas, host of the award-winning podcast, Entrepreneur on Fire. Dumas attributes this saying, the 7 Ps, to his time in the US Army: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance. Is this something you can resonate with?
As you define your project, the key mind-set is that of creating something new, or enhancing an existing âsystem.â As Project Leader you will go through a number of mental states through the life of your project. Some of these mental states are highlighted in what I call the almond diamond. I often illustrate this concept with the image of the almond diamond shown below.
The almond diamond is a quick and easy reminder that your project starts off with many ideas, with some possibly contradicting one another. Then, as your project moves into the delivery stage, wholesale changes and new ideas begin to taper, as you approach the pointy end of your project.
In project-speak, there is a limited appetite for change-requests as your project nears completion. This is a good thing to remember, seeing as it is widely agreed that scope creep is one of the main causes of project delays and failure.
The inflection point is where the width and breadth of your project scope start to reduce, as you focus on delivering and closing out your project.
NOTE: The closer the inflection point is to the end of your project, the higher the risk of project delays or failure.
GAICD, M.Comp (Monash)
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