Nothing Concentrates the Mind Like a Hanging (at Dawn)
IT (Information Technology) projects stall for lots of reasons. They also fail spectacularly. Worse, they don’t fail soon enough and organizations bloat staffing in pursuit of a project that should be killed. It’s also common to see unqualified resources stumbling through what an expert can finish with little effort.
Nothing Concentrates the Mind Like a Hanging
A sense of urgency is often missing in IT projects. Milestones are missed with regularity and it’s often unclear who is responsible for deliverables. The expectation that a Google search will yield the technical recipe often substitutes for seeking out experienced help.
It’s not uncommon to hear some imaginative reasoning for why a project missed a deadline or failed to accomplish the objective. Most of these reasons are just fabrications. Sometimes the simple steps such as having clear consequences (the hanging) and an immovable deadline (at dawn) are not sufficient to provoke any meaningful results.
Now what?
It’s no secret that most people inherently avoid conflicts. They know what they should do, but inexplicably can not confront the situation before them. It’s no different with a technology project but there is a twist. You may not be able to overcome the imaginative technical fabrications in addition to confronting the individuals involved.
It’s time to seek out a peer review of the project and place a technical expert in direct conflict with your in-house resources.
What happens next will be the real test of your own leadership.
