How to Fail in Project

Management without really

trying

Analyzing Mistakes

No matter how successful the

organization is, it is bound to make a
mistake
Where there is a failure there is
potential for learning

 If you wish to ruin your

project do the following

Ignore the Project Environment

To manage the project without regard

for the organizations external,
internal environment including
project stake holders.

DHABOL CASE

Push a New Technology too

quickly

When a company pushes a new

technology the company cut corners ,
safety factors or make quality trade
offs

TEREDYNE JAGUAR

CASE

Dont bother to build fallback

options

Successful project managers are those who

are best able to adapt to the new situation
with flexibility, look for opportunities and
bring their projects back up to spend
rapidly

Managers who spend time doing the What

if scenarios are more successful than
managers who operate reactively

When problem occur, Shoot the

one most visible

Fix the problem not the blame

Let new ideas starve to death

from interia

Allowing new projects to remain in a

holding pattern indefinitely

Dont bother conducting feasibility

studies

Feasibility study is required for a

project to be successful
Euro-tunnels failure to generate
revenue

HANDSTAR CASE

Never admit a project is a failure

To recognize the circumstances when its no

longer sensible to continue

Ego and personal stake in the project

Throwing money at a sinking project will not

buy success

Willingness to acknowledge an error is

required

Over manage Project managers

and their teams

Large corporations, loaded with layers of

oversight and bureaucracy, are
increasingly becoming some of the worst
settings for achieving cutting-edge
innovation

Some of the big spending innovations

Never, Never conduct post failure

reviews

Inclination to sweep the whole failed

project under the rug and move on as
though nothing has happened.

Mistakes are a natural side effect of many

new ventures. Learning from them, is a
trait much more difficult to acquire

Never bother to understand

project trade-offs

Willingness to sacrifice money in exchange

for schedule, and vice versa

Balancing acts among rival demands

Implications of crashing the project

Allow political expediency and

infighting to dictate crucial project
decisions

Need to reshape strategic focus

Political decision-making is often at the

expense of overall organizational
effectiveness

Make sure the project is run by a

weak leader

Weak leaders are unhelpful and

counterproductive
Good project leader is the one who
has to marshaling the resources ,
motivating team personnel

Conclusion

Failure is often a by-product of risky ventures

Projects upset the status quo of organizations

Past failures need not discourage us from future efforts

Two natural reactions from project managers in sight of

failure
To brush aside with as little thought as possible
To become so focused on failure that it handcuffs an

organization from taking new steps

There are lessons to be learnt from failure- if only we are

willing to learn