Do project managers talk about project failure? #pmot

Posted on | December 15, 2009 | Author: | lindsayascott | 4 Comments

Much has been reported about how many projects fail* and the reasons why projects fail and that got me thinking – when was the last time you met a project manager who failed? In all my seven years of working in project management recruitment, I’ve never even seen a CV from a project manager who failed, so where are they all, these project managers that are or have managed failed projects? Is there a special group – “Projects Anonymous” – where they all gather together, each taking it in turn to share their story?

On a serious note, do project managers actually talk about project failure? Isn’t there much to share with the project community that goes beyond just talking about best practice and using governance to ensure project failure rates are lowered. Isn’t there value in open and honest conversations, sharing of real life situations that business books don’t even begin to cover? As mentioned before, not one of the thousands of CV’s I’ve seen in seven years mentions a project that failed. Does that mean that organisations are willing to employ only project managers that succeed? We know that project failure rate is high (about 75% of projects fail, Garner statistic) so statistically that means at some point in their career, this new superstar all succeeding project manager will fail at some point. The question to ask is how equipped will they be, to deal with this new phenomena of failure?

The reality is that people choose to avoid mentioning the failures in their careers and project managers are no exception, but I wanted to understand more about how project managers perceive their project failure. In this years 5th annual project management report we have a specific section on project failure and ask project professionals their thoughts on areas such as how to discuss project failure in interviews and what, in their opinion was the reason for failure.

> To take part and add your opinion, visit the report now

It only takes 4-8 minutes and you’ll receive the entire report (including salary benchmarking information) for free in the new year

*Just some of the reported project failure pieces;

> OGC – Common Causes of Project Failure

> The Chartered Institute for IT – A Study on Project Failure

> The original Standish Report on Project Failure from 1995

Related posts:

1. NHS Employers: ‘We must attract, retain and develop talent’ #pmot
2. How are Project Managers Feeling Today?
3. Book Review – Public-Sector Project Management #pmot
4. Continuing Professional Development for Project Managers
5. The Survey For Project Managers To Close Wednesday

Comments

4 Responses to “Do project managers talk about project failure? #pmot”

1. Bob Marshall
   December 15th, 2009 @ 10:06 am

   I have always been willing, driven even, to talk about failures, both large and small. In my experience, the customer and / or the management on the supply side are the ones who don’t want to talk about it – or more, see no value in talking about it. I put this down to an absence of a continuous improvement culture in most organisations.

   - @FlowChainSensei

2. Ron Rosenhead
   December 16th, 2009 @ 9:50 am

   Project management is missing a trick! Look at project management methodologies and learning is mentioned. If we are honest, how many people spend time doing this activity so that we do not make the same mistakes again? In all my time in project management I have not come across very many.

   Project do ‘fail’ however for me the real issue is what we can learn from it to avoid making the same mistakes again and develop knowledge and new skills. In all the courses we run, this aspect is always covered and while heads nod the translation into action is less positive!

   Ron Rosenhead, Project Agency

3. Elizabeth
   December 16th, 2009 @ 11:00 am

   Looking forward to the Benchmark report.

   It’s a shame that project failure seems to be a taboo subject. If we don’t learn from mistakes or aren’t open to discussion about where things went wrong, how can we hope to perform better next time?

   My colleague wrote a series of articles about why projects may fail, based on a real example:

   http://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/why-projects-fail-introduction.php

4. Pete
   January 15th, 2010 @ 6:24 pm

   Also its worth remembering that a project by its nature is supposed to be unique new experience, and therefore there is no guarantee that the proposed business benefits really exist. The most beautifully controlled projects can still deliver no benefit, is this really a failure to lay at the project managers door or an organisation failure?

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Email Address(required)

Website

Comments

You can add a link to follow you on twitter if you put your username in this box.
Only needs to be added once (unless you change your username). No http or @
Twitter