Ten Ways to Ensure Project Failure

Sometime ago I read an article about the top ten ways to destroy the earth. Although it is a bit morbid to even think about such a topic let alone compile a top ten list, it certainly is an interesting scientific problem. Blowing planet earth to bits is not as simple as it may seem. It takes considerable amount of energy to blow up six sextillion tons of rock and metal. However, there are some exotic ways to get the job done. From creating a micro black-hole on the surface of the earth to creating an anti-matter bomb with 2.5 trillion tons of anti-matter to creating perfect Von Neumann machines (self-replicating), they are all pretty futuristic and not part of our everyday experience. Some may say- “why even think about such an absurd subject?”, but it does have few practical applications. If nothing else, it helps us think about possible dangers to the only known planet capable of supporting life.

While blowing up earth may for now be out of our grasp and may require giant leaps in technology, blowing up an IT project is quite easy. I can say that with authority, because I have seen many projects self-destruct right in front of my eyes and at times I may have contributed to some of them. So here are the ten ways of blowing up an IT project:

1. The Missing Matter—Requirements: Lack of business and functional requirements or requirements lacking appropriate level of detail.
2. Progress Black Hole: Lack of mechanisms to measure progress, milestones, and deadlines.
3. Caught in the Gravitational Pull of Technology: Focus on technology itself rather than achieving business objectives through technology.
4. Supernova – Out of Resources: Unrealistic expectations and deadlines – trying to achieve too much in too little time and with too few resources.
5. Consumed by Nebulous Clouds: Constantly changing requirements and feature creep. Inability to give the project and product a solid shape and direction. Lack of proper change control process.
6. Bombarded by Asteroids: Loss of focus and progress due to multi-tasking on unnecessary side projects and other distractions.
7. Lost in Space: Lack of a well defined project plan with appropriate level of details, milestones, and resource allocations.
8. Too many WIMPS (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles): Lack of interaction with the business users, lack of sufficient number of check points, lack of business user involvement during the planning, build, and deployment phases.
9. Journey to the Edge of the Universe: Attempting to run a project with bleeding edge technology, inexperienced project team, and poorly understood business objectives.
10. Starless Solar System: Lack of clear and convincing business case and mapping of how the project will help to achieve the business objectives.