I just got sent this great list on how to make a project fail. Hopefully a useful resource of things to watch out for.
1. Ignore the project environment and stakeholders
2. Push a new technology to market too quickly
3. Don’t bother building in fallback options
4. When problems occur, shoot the one most visible
5. Let new ideas starve to death from inertia
6. Don’t bother conducting feasibility studies
7. Never admit a project is a failure
8. Overmanage project managers and their teams
9. Never, never conduct post-failure reviews
10. Never bother to understand project trade-offs
11. Let political expediency dictate project decisions
12. Make sure the project is run by a weak leader
What would you add to the list?
Also published on Medium.
Failing to plan appropriately (or at all).
Treating Estimates as Facts.
Assuming Work Done (ie effort) = Value Generated.
Treating querying or dissenting voices as pariahs to ignore instead of warnings to be heard.
Believing that if you can say it then it can be done.
Great list!
I would add…
13. Starve the project of resources (people and tools)
14. Impose unrealistic timelines based on guesswork/ignorance
Stop prioritizing the tasks.