WHY PROJECT FAIL??????

I think possibly one of the reasons Project fails is that all of the Planners are in here navel gazing.



The outcome (less success / failure, more a sliding scale all the way from unmitigated disaster through to the dizzying heights of acceptable disappointment) should only really be judged as a lifecycle issue (many fine examples have been raised, from Oliver’s bridge through to the Nun’s scrum and beyond).

There are various frames of reference within this lifecycle which will give wildly varying answers depending on whose they are.

A contractor may feel a project is a success because he got paid and turned a tidy profit, but if the product doesn’t meet the Client’s need, or the requirements have since changed, the Project as a whole may be a failure.

A local hospital may be of great benefit to the local community, the PFI partner may be making a bucketload of cash, but the lifecycle costs to the taxpayer may push the business case into the realms of unmitigated disaster.





Perhaps a more appropriate question would be "Regardless of the wider picture, why were you not happy with the outcome of your projects, and what could have been done to make you happier without compromising the PRODUCT lifecycle?"





How’s that for navel gazing?

Charle,



Agree ! with the project management part



As for the project, being one of the seven man made wonder of the world, icon of Sydney and Australia. I believe the project is a success.



Regards



Alex

Hi All



Not many people outside Sydney know that the local name for their opera house is "The Nuns Scrum".



Lovely image.



Best regards



Mike Testro

Hi All



That Sydney Opera House did sparked some good discussion.



My point being there is two destine success we are talking about in Project world (IMHO)



Project Management Success

Project Success



And a lot of time we mix the two up and go into a sprial discussion.



My question is whether these two destine factors have any co-relation with "PROJECT" success as overall.



And what Project Manager can do to ensure its a "PROJECT" success or of course how they can made it fail



Alex

Thanks Mike. I agree with you. All the benefits versus all the costs need to be considered. Ironicly a project can fail it’s original objectives yet still be a success for the customer and the supplier.



Oliver - great insight and so very true. If the project makes money, everyone gets paid AND the customer is happy and the community gets some kind of benefit then perhaps that means the project is a success.



Rav - you make several valid points. A project has by definition a specific end date. You can move that end date but at some stage the projects ends. The project then has to be evaluated up to that point.



The thing is that the PMBOK style definition of project success is too narrow in my view. Esp. for high risk / high return projects with lots of unknowns. I.e. projects that are very hard to define in the first place.

If success is measured depending upon the long term usage, then y v hav such a tight schedule, if its going to make profit tomorow or may be day after tomorow. Every penny is important for teh CLIENT / OWNER and as an employee, u r not supoposed to fiddle with it.



Then, as per ur say, WEMBLEY STADIUM shud be a grand success, even though FA Cup Final in 2006 was moved to Cardiff. Multiplex have made huge loss, I believe on taht project.



May be Clive Randall can throw soem light on the figures, but overall, as a construction project, ITS a BIG FAILURE, on account of time frame and huge losses.



Most of teh project Management Institute does say, 90% of the projects do FAIL as they were not completed on TIME and neither within BUDGET. So, as per ur say, its not the case. Evenif, project shows sign of success in yaers to come, it’s a success, weather it has met its tiem and cost objectives or not??



For most of us, Wembley stadium construction is a failure and will be a classic example of WHY PROJECT FAILs??



Cheers,



rav

If there was a construction project with a major design flaw (at the employers risk) that only got realised near the end of the project and this resulted in massive rework, the employer loses, but the contractor may end up earning twice the work that they originally bid for.



Project fails for one party, but is beneficial for the other.



Success & failure depends on the person you ask and the view that ’if a project makes money its a success’ is only true for the capitalist stakeholder.



Imagine a hospital built late (contractor risk) and for twice the budget, a failure for the employer, court for the contractor, but a benefit for the local community.

We are discussing project success and failure like it was a Boolean value. Either YES or NO. So to me the answer is YES even if it could have been better.



Let’s just assume for argument sake that it will not be ready for that 2009 tournament but it will be a great success for future events.



In this case it failed one outcome - the 2009 tournament. It also failed another outcome in the short term: to promote the SPORTS CITY PROJECT in 2009.



I don’t know how time dependant this second outcome is. However there are major cricket matches every year and I expect it wont matter in the long run if the SPORTS CITY PROJECT gets promoted in 2009 or later. As you say the stadium is expected to be a success in years to come anyway.



I look at it like this. Did the benefits out weight the costs in time/money etc.? In other words was the project worthwhile?



In this case I would say that it failed in some outcomes but it still eventually achieved it’s main outcome. Overall the stadium was still worth building even if it was late. Hence the project was still a success. It just was not as successful as it was planned to be.

Hi Dave



i have been following this thread with interest and you have finally hit the nail on the head.



If the project makes money it is a success.



It may lose money but bring aesthetic or social benefits to the community that can be valued - not necessarily in monetary terms.



I am thinking of the London Milenium Dome - a magnificent structure brought in on time and on budget - but it was a financial disaster.



Recently however it has been turned round into a concert and exhibition venue that equals any in the world and will begin to make money.



Best regards



Mike Testro

Thats tricky now :-)



In this case, Project Management team has failed to complete the film within budget, but so, the objectives were changed to earn more money.



My ex-boss used to say, CHANGES ARE BOUND TO HAPPEN IN LONG TERM PROJECTS AND U CANNOT AVOID THOSE. If the objectives are changed, then its OK, as u hav revised baseline and revised budget tragets. The maketing guys and districutors in this case, may change the launch objectives and can fetch more money.



So, it might hav been possible tat u can make a film in $100 million and can earn $400, so ultimately its a loss.



Consider one more nice project. Dubai Cricket Stadium is under Construction and was scheduled to host in 2009, next world cup pre-qualifying matches. Stadium is fantastic, nice looking, developed within a huge SPORTS CITY but may not get ready in 2009 and so, they may lose chance to host the pre-qualifying games.



So, they may loose this tournament, which is a not a good sign to promote SPORTS CITY PROJECT, but still it will be a huge success in years to come and thats sure.



So, thats SUCCESS or FAILURE. FAILURE to meet deadline and lost host to world-cup pre-qualifying matches OR SUCCESS in years to come.



What’s ur say??

That is an entirely valid way of looking at it. However in my opinion it is an unsuitable view point for high risk / high return types of project.



You see it as a PRODUCT but I see it as an OUTCOME.



Take Hollywood movies for example. By your criteria the vast majority of Hollywood movie making projects are abject failures. Since Hollywood began, movie making projects take longer and cost more than planned in the majority of cases.



Your view point is that the projects failed but the films were a success.



Let’s say the film budget was $100 million. The producers expected to make $100 million in profit. The film project was $50 million over budget. The film made $400 million in profit plus people want a sequel to be made.



By your measure the project was 50% over budget. It was a major project failure by these measures. However rather than making $100 million the OUTCOME was $350 million in profit plus repeat business.



Did the project fail OR was it that the planned constraints turned out to be incorrect. If they had originally planned to spend $150 million then the project would be a success by your measure. However it would be the same project.

How opera house can be a success?



What a layman and politician or a common man is seeing, is not a project under construction but what they are looking at, is a PRODUCT.



Lets take the sample project of say, LAUNCH OF A CAR.



The car launch project may consume more time, and more money causing rise in teh selling price, but it may happen that CAR will be a huge success in the market.



Now, in this case LAUNCH project of this CAR has failed but not the product.



Same applies for SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE as well. As a cosntruction project, its a failure. Consider the example of BURJ DUBAI TOWER project, which is now the tallest building in teh world. Supposed to finsih in December 2008, but may get complete somewhere in September next year. But, the prices will never come down and it will remain major tourist attraction for years to come for DUBAI.



As a construction project, its a failure. But, when people will start using it, it will be a success.



So, one shud know the difference between a project and a PRODUCT to DEFINE failure / success.



Cheers,



Rav

Everyone acts as if project managers do have crystal balls and can see into the future better than anyone else. We as project managers are of course painfully aware that we do not have crystal balls. We realise we have to make decisions on which risks are worth the effort to manage.



I had a theory based on my experience as to which risks needed to be managed to increase the chances of project success. Fortunately my research managed to prove that my theory is correct - at least for software projects. I expect it is also true for other industries but perhaps to different degrees.



I very loosely call these risks "relationship issues". Perhaps one day I will think of another term but for now this will have to do.

I hope you agree that logically a failure to manage the right risks (of all kinds) is why projects fail. Just suppose you could see into the future and foresee which risks were the ones you needed to manage. If you managed those foreseen risks then the project will succeed.

(And of course if you had such a magic crystal ball, you would be the richest person on earth) :)

Why do projects fail?

I can point you to research which give the most common reasons for software projects. They can be summed up as management failures. I have been working with construction and engineering project managers for the last year and they tend to agree that it comes down to management failures in their industries as well.

My analysis of these issues is that it is a failure to manage risks.

When you think about it, project management IS risk management - but in a broader sense.

Yes Alex - an excellent example!

Was it a successful project? I say YES.

I justify YES because although it failed in terms of the defined project constraints it exceeded in terms of the benefits. I think a layman and a politician would also consider it a success.

Sydney Opera House



Project Success or Not

Hi everyone!

After twenty something years in project management I returned to university and wrote a post-grad thesis on this very subject. I have been back at the coal face again for a year and sharing some of the insights I gained from my research. My focus was in software projects which by the traditional criteria fail at a spectacular rate.

What is project success?

This is a topic in it’s own right. Even in civil construction projects this is not as simple to answer as it once was. In software projects, on time, within budget and at quality doesn’t actually define project success. A software project can meet all of these as still fail. It could not meet any of these and still be a success.

Then there is the question of what is project success and what is business success? Where is the boundary? In public works projects this is not so simple to define as it was in 1970. Even in private business there is a grey area.

Hi Oliver,



What you discribe is project success. Agreed and exactly what I said earlier!!



But Project Management success is when you built the project and it have a finite start and finish. But the objectives and goals of the proejct might not necessary have a finite start and finish.



Regards



Alex

Hi Oliver and Alex,

I did gave an example of waterproofing with 20 yrs guarantee in my earlier post.

What I said was that long term effects can be considered for project success only if part of the project.. for example, bridge having 30 yrs of life. It is definitely spelled out in the contract as a deliverable and hence is a measure for project success.

End of project in this case is not end of construction. But when it ends, it ends. You cannot have someone calling it a project failure on 31st year if the bridge collapses. It has exceeded its serviceable life and civic authorities would be responsible for maintenance. Project was a success as it did survive 30 years. Project management was not a success as they should have said 40 years. (Scope definition is the starting point)

Alex,



some define Project(s) as a one time endeavor, and maybe most contractors (if not all) are profit oriented, so who cares? it’s either you win or you lose! life isn’t fair, is it?

I googled around for Pm and came up wit this site. May be more relevant for this thread.



http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/project-management-success-with-the-top-7…



Just read the last sentance. "Following best practices cannot guarantee a successful project but they will provide a better chance of success. Disregarding best practices will almost certainly lead to project failure."



Cheers,



Ravi

The measurement of the success of a project does not end when the project ends.

If you build a bridge to last 30 years and afer 29 years it fails, then the project has failed even though construction may have finished decades ago.



One of the largest programmes of work in the UK at the moment is the NDA’s cleanup of civil nuclear sites. Some of the measurements of success in addition to time, cost and quality include the environmental impact of the project and also the socio-economic effects of work on the surrounding areas. Also if you look at the APM site, they mention that the criteria for success is constantly evolving.

Neeraj



What you discribe is project management success. It ends when the project is completed



Project success is more than Project Management Success



Regards



Alex

Hi Alex,

Long term or cleint feelings will affect business, not the project.

I guess when joined charles in his discussion, it was about the objective "as specified and mutually agreed in the contract". When the project ends, it ends.

The project has got a definite life cycle and the scope (expectations) are as per agreement between client / contractor.

So long term effects and feelings, though very important, should not be a critera for determing project success.

If it has to be a criteria, it should be part of the contract, like 20 years guarantee for waterproofing or one year damage liability period etc.

The client and contractor might not find a way of finalising an agreement as far as long term effects are concerned.

Regards

Hi Anoon



Well Clients feeling might not necessary have immediate negative financial effects, however, in long run it might. And that is the invisible factors that is so hard to manage. Project success .... its too hard to measure and justify, and its a very subjective view.



Alex

a Project is a gamble between the Client and the Contractor, it is a question of who wins or who loses?



who cares about the Client’s feelings? was it specified in the contract?

Dear all



Well I do come across a scenario where Project Management is very success, time cost, scope, quality ....



However the final product just did not fulfil to project objectives.



Like Building a houser with 4 bed room with a specific specification. But at the end the some of objectives of the house cannot be measure and manage by the project management. Like client feelings, invisible objective and project manager can handle all visible, measureable factor but not the other one in the equation.



My question is, do you still call it a project success??





Regards



Alex

Hi Charleston



We are now getting back to the nub of the thread.



If the contractor gets paid his $5 billion then he has had a succes.



If the developer can’t get his $5 billion back in increased recovery then he has failed.



Succes and failure in the same project - its heads and tails on the same coin.



I have not said this yet in this thread but in my opinion projects fail because of lack of foresight and lack of time and money contingencies to cover potential risks.



Best regards



Mike Testro

Hi Charleston



If the contractor has done $5 billion more work in the the same time at the same quality that is a succes.



The client has got more work done in the same time and at the same quality.



Best regards



Mike Testro.

Mr. Wong,

If you see all four cases, the conclusion is

project objective = project success.



regardless of project management. Does it mean project management makes no difference to the equation?

No, project management is a part of obtaining project objective.

Hi All



The matrix doean’t work if a multiplier x is applied instead of a +.



-1 x -1 = +1 so failure x failure = success.



Best regards



Mike Testro

Mr. Wong,

Perfect matrix, except, the last one.

Success + Fail = Fail.

then it is not success in project management. is it?

regards

May be we can put it in a martix



Project Management + Project Objective = Project Success



Fail Fail = Fail (??)

Success Success = Total Success (??)

Fail Success = Success

Success Fail = Fail

Most projects fail because of projects which are successful(?).

The bar gets raised with every successful project but not everyone can raise their standard, say like to get gold medal for the next big jump.

Frankly, there is no end to expectations. and so there is no end to failures. But by all means, reduce the failures, yes we can. Hence the planners, otherwise who needs us.

Here’s another article that I would like to contribute to this thread: Project Management Tips to Avoid Failure



The article consists of the following sections:



- When can a project be considered a failure (definition of project failure)

- What are the reasons for project failure

- Solutions to the above reasons of project failure



The article is mainly titled towards IT Project Management, but with a few modifications, it can fit any type of Project Management.

Project Failure? In terms of what?



A certain project might fail in quality, but not necessarily financially, or maybe failure in management but not in delivery! so what failure are you talking about?



Is it total failure? Did you ask the contractor how much profits he made?

Hi!



Mainly the project fails due to the Lack of long vision and poor management.



Initially when the project starts management considers lot of assumptions. Where project controls team come to the picture and needs to put them in sequencial manner and anlyse for the delays where the project goes wrong and where to take necessary actions to improve the same.



Purely depend the the long vision and the project management, refer "Strategic Sagari" Project Management beat, bliend man and elephant story.



Please add some more facts to this, why projects fail

Charleston,



Most projects fail because each party under most contracts have a different priority and agenda.



But although we spend our time on this site discussing problems, disputes, etc, etc, the vast majority of projects don’t actually end in big disputes.



In the UK, there are many thousands of projects each year, two or three thousand end up in adjuducation, a few hundred end up in arbitration and a few more hundred end up in court. The percentage that end in dispute are actually quite small.



It’s not all doom and gloom.

Mike,



Regarding your homily "In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king" .

Well known in my culture as an opportunity for the only one eyed man to improve and set up new ways of doing things. If we planners are the one eyed man and we are not listened by the blinds (project manager (PM) ) , It could be for many reasons coming from both sides. ONE important reason for me is communication from planners to PM.



Hi Charlie,



I hope you had nice holidays in your native land.



“being pawns in the great wars being fought at the executive boardrooms” Agree with you. BUT I do believe that those executives are pawn in another wars being fought in highest levels boardrooms.



Lack of truth in projects . Of course, specially when we talk about money.



All project leaders are IDIOTS. You are not JUST with the good ones.



It seems that projects are sentenced to fail at the early stage of pre feasibility study.



Cheers,

Hi Charleston



The pay for delay analysis is high because not many of us can do it properly and it is based on a succesful track record.



You are only as good as your last case especially at the highest levels.



Best regards



Mike Testro

Hi Charleston



If there is a better way forward then I do not know of it - despite the advice on PP from any number of threads on the subject.



Here is another little homily for you "In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king" in our case it is "Pity the man with vision in the land with Kings who will not see"



If you can’t change things then the quicker you get to live with the situation the better for your mental health and blood pressure.



Best regards



Mike Testro

Hi Joseph



Have you ever heard of Cassandra - Daughter of Priam King of Troy - whose kindom was defeated by the the Greek invaders wooden horse.



She was the prophet who could foresee the future but was cursed because no one would believe her.



Does that remind you of anything in the planning - control world of here and now?



Best regards



Mike Testro