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What is "Failure" Anyway?

Alex S. Brown, PMP IPMA-C Real-Life Projects, Inc. President & Owner December 4, 2007. What is "Failure" Anyway?. Our Speaker, Our Sponsor. Alex S. Brown, PMP IPMA-C www.alexsbrown.com. Real-Life Projects, Inc. When you don't have time to waste... www.rlprj.com. Agenda: What is Failure?.

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What is "Failure" Anyway?

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  1. Alex S. Brown, PMP IPMA-C Real-Life Projects, Inc. President & Owner December 4, 2007 What is "Failure" Anyway?

  2. Our Speaker, Our Sponsor Alex S. Brown, PMP IPMA-C www.alexsbrown.com Real-Life Projects, Inc. When you don't have time to waste... www.rlprj.com

  3. Agenda: What is Failure? What other people are telling us Some stories of “failure” Why failure is essential Coming to our own definition of “failure”

  4. Poll According to what people tell you, what percentage of projects fail?

  5. Standish CHAOS Study Widely quoted, but ask, “WHY?” Created by consultants Not repeatable Usually quoted inaccurately For more, see Robert L. Glass, “IT Failure Rates, 70% or 10-15%” http://csdl2.computer.org/comp/mags/so/2005/03/s3112.pdf

  6. Breaking It Down Standish study all projects or just IT? Same results every year or no? Did 84% of projects “fail” according to the 1994 study?

  7. Real Results from 1994 Study 31% “canceled at some point during the development cycle” 53% “challenged” -- completed, but over budget, over schedule, OR with fewer features 16% “success” -- on-time, on-budget, all features initially specified

  8. Some “Challenged” Projects I Wish I Had Run Windows 95 Sydney Opera House The Challenger Space Shuttle Launch If someone had done the right thing and canceled it, saving reputation and lives... Actually, ANY software release by Microsoft, Netscape, AOL, or any innovator

  9. What is “Failure”? Is it Over budget Late Not according to spec Or is it something else?

  10. New Poll What percentage of your own projects do you consider to be a failure? What percentage of your own projects “failed”, in your own view?

  11. My Favorite “Failed” Project Working for Merrill Lynch Launch of Merrill Lynch Direct Hundreds of programmers working to a fixed deadline Small portion of the job was getting a kiosk in every sales office...

  12. As a Project Manager, Did I Fail? Delivered no results But... Minimized impact to the company Kept good relationship with sponsor Allowed business people time to decide Was ready if it had gone forward Failure? Not by my definition!

  13. So What is “Failure”? Dictionary will not help you here Need your own definition Here is mine Unethical conduct Harms human life Harms company Hurts strategic position

  14. Different Definitions for Different Companies Risk-taker? Maybe success is trying! Conservative? Maybe success is incremental improvement! Often success is profit Time horizon for measuring success varies by company

  15. What is “Failure”? I cannot tell you. It is a decision each one of us needs to make for him or herself. Perhaps someday when a study says, “80% of projects failed,” we will say, “Who cares?” Instead of, “Sign me up for that lecture!”

  16. Alex S. Brown, PMP IPMA-C Real-Life Projects, Inc. alex@rlprj.com www.rlprj.com Troubled Projects SIGwww.tpsig.org

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