I specialize in fixing I.T./Digital projects and programs that have gone wrong. Over the last 30 years I have raked over the ashes of project after project that has failed, and many others on the brink of failure. They are characterized by massive expenditures in time and money, embarrassment all around, and everybody involved scuttling to avoid the blame.

When I interview project managers it’s pretty difficult to get them to admit they have nasty projects in their managerial background. Hmmmm, that's weird, because some data suggests that 70% of projects fail.

There is a lot of opinion, some based on data, about why projects fail, here are 3 examples of that:

1. https://www.proprofs.com/c/project/common-reasons-for-project-failure/

2. https://project-management.com/top-10-main-causes-of-project-failure/

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTHHiBNXJ6w

Project failures run across methodologies, environments, internal teams versus external vendors, custom software versus packages, on-prem versus cloud. It seems like there is no escape. A crap-shoot where you might get lucky, but equally, you might not.

At this point, I’ll be blunt!

NONE of these lists of reasons for failure EVER mention what I believe to be the single biggest flaw in I.T./Digital projects. Pretty much every project I have been involved in needed a

Project Crusader

Someone in the project, who has some authority who is prepared to do whatever it takes to make the project succeed.

Project Crusaders don’t force a process, they force common sense
Project Crusaders don’t just measure progress they manage progress
Project Crusaders lead when the going gets tough, acting as a beacon of hope
Project Crusaders look for opportunities in problems, and look to reduce problems in opportunities
Project Crusaders go over, round or through the wall
Project Crusaders make sure the whole team survives, thrives and gets to the top of the mountain.

None of these attributes are role specific, they can be a product manager, a project manager, a project executive, or a skilled team member. None of these attributes appear in the myriad of methodologies.

I am often asked what I do, and my response is that I manage big scary I.T. projects, the bigger and scarier the better.

In practice, managing a project, regardless of size, is a very small part of what I do. Most of the mental effort I apply to a project is as a Project Crusader.

I will make the project succeed, sometimes, in the darkest moments, by sheer force of will alone.

I don’t say the above to toot my own horn, I say it so that you can look at your I.T./Digital Project or Program, and you can either see the Project Crusader or there is a very high probability that you will fail.

If you need help, visit www.h7i.com