Starting at the Beginning

One of the really interesting things I’ve noticed about projects as I’ve spent some time learning about project management is how much a bad decision at the beginning of a project dooms that project to multiple delays and problems.

The r thing I’ve also found interesting is how infrequently those early decisions are scrutinized.

See if this sounds familiar. A new project comes up and someone has to decide what resources are going to be dedicated to it. They make a decision about a tool to use, without really understanding the capabilities and limitations of said tool. The limitations of the tool creates a number of problems, some minor, some major. Workarounds are found to overcome the major problems, though they are clearly thrown together with duct tape and a prayer.

At the end of the project, the lesson learned is to plan better workarounds for the next time this happens.

Do you see the problem here? Go back all the way to the beginning the next time a project becomes a major problem, there’s usually a bad decision there that created the need for clumsy workarounds. Fix that, and there’s no need for them again.

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