Project Failure Factors

How many of these were on your last project?

  • Lack of User Input
  • Incomplete Requirements & Specifications
  • Changing Requirements & Specifications
  • Lack of Executive Support
  • Technology Incompetence
  • Lack of Resources
  • Unrealistic Expectations
  • Unclear Objectives
  • Unrealistic Time Frames
  • New Technology

Dale Emery offers the The Prime Project Failure Factor which will prevent a project from failing even if all of the above factors appear in the project.

# re: Project Failure Factors

Wednesday, June 09, 2004 11:52 PM by Darrell    
That's the same advice Ed Yourdon gives in Death March. :)

In reality, if you wait until everything is ironed out, your projects will never be that interesting. If there is no risk, there's no return on the money invested. The reward is proportionate to the risk (basic finance).

The thing is, most of those can be controlled (not managed, but controlled). It's when they aren't controlled properly that it becomes a problem.

# re: Project Failure Factors

Thursday, June 10, 2004 12:50 AM by Steve Hebert    
Jim McCarthy did a "developer night" back in '97 at VCDC Orlando and asked for the best quotes from failed projects.

One guy gets up in front of the microphone and says (roughly):

The project was hopelessly behind schedule and everyone was frustrated. Finally the project manager called everyone in a meeting asking for obscene amounts of overtime and said "We're going to fire one developer a week until the product ships."

That same night he berated one developer who asked "What do you when someone comes up with a crazy schedule, no specs, and so on and insists on getting buy-in?" He just yelled "Say no. Next question."

# re: Project Failure Factors

Thursday, June 10, 2004 1:25 AM by Steve    
That's awesome!!

# re: Project Failure Factors

Monday, April 30, 2007 11:14 AM by fh3gds    

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