Up From the Ashes

I experienced failure on a large IT project about a decade ago. The project didn't fail on my watch, but it certainly crashed. I happened to be the 3rd of four project manager’s during the project’s year of existence.

I did everything the project management textbooks told me to do. I created a detailed project plan with the help of my technical leads. I assessed project risks and set out the manage them. I created a communications plan to describe how my team would now communicate with our client team. The list goes on. My senior management confirmed that I was doing the right things. And yet, the project failed.This failure haunted me for years. I wondered whether I had misunderstood much of what I had read. Were the project management books wrong? Was senior management of my employer wrong?

I needed answers to my questions. I needed to know what I was missing in my management of this project. Specifically, I planned and executed a research project to identify the key factors that are present in successful large IT projects.

During the next few days and weeks, I will use Management House to show what I learned during this research. The research project is entitled, Sacred PM Practices. My findings have completely changed the way I manage projects. I welcome your comments.