MM6042 Global Project Management

How to Fail in Project Management

without really trying

Syndicate-3 BLEMBA:
• Muhamad Sidik / 29119298
• Muhammad Tulus Bujiono / 29119282
• Priza Karunia / 29119332
• Rezy Yudana Ruslan / 29119299
• Pramudito Adhi / 29119276
 Project Fail Background

Project management Technique has globally used for any

discipline of project, such as construction, medical, space etc.

Some implementation were not well prepared with adequate

training and certification.

Many companies spend thousand Was the investment worthwhile?

of hours to evaluate and learn on Did it go according to plan
project with asking question: If yes, how? If not, why?
Two important lesson should be apparent to
every careful reader

No matter how successful the

organization is, it is bound to make a
mistake

No matter how successful the

organization is, it is bound to make a
mistake
A Quick Guide to Ruining your Project

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

 If you wish to ruin your project please do
the following… 
1. Ignore the Project Environment

• To manage the project without

regard for the organizations
external, internal environment
including project stake holders.
• Case : Beli Nuclear Power Plant
who proposed by NIPSCO
• Root Cause : Project organization
forgot theis stakeholders

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

2. Push a New
Technology too
quickly

• When a company pushes a

new technology the
company cut corners , safety
factors or make quality
trade offs
• Case: DeHavilland’s
commercial jet disaster on
new product desig
• Root cause: Faulty design on
new technology
implementation

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

3. Don’t bother to build fallback options
• Successful project managers
are those who are best able to
adapt to the new situation
with flexibility, look for
opportunities and bring their
projects back up to spend
rapidly
• Managers who spend time
doing the “What if” scenarios
are more successful than
managers who operate
reactively
4. When problem occur,
Shoot the one most
visible

• Project Manager shooting problem

root cause only to what visible
without considering other potential
problem
• Fix the problem not the blame the
person or organization, think that
system need to be fixed
5. Let new
ideas starve
to death
from interia
• Allowing new projects to remain in a
holding pattern indefinitely
• Case: Xerox new computer product
• Root Cause : Executive have a choice
play safe on introducing new product

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

 6. Don’t bother
conducting feasibility
studies

Feasibility study is Case: Euro-tunnels

required for a project failure to generate
to be successful revenue
7. Never admit a project is a failure

To recognize the
circumstances when it’s no
longer sensible to continue

Ego and personal stake in

the project

Throwing money at a sinking

project will not buy success

Willingness to acknowledge
an error is required
 • Large corporations, loaded with layers of
8. Over oversight and bureaucracy, are increasingly
becoming some of the worst settings for
manage achieving cutting-edge innovation
• Some of the big spending innovations never
Project found their way to the market
• Case : Big Blue spent >$6.8 billion on R&D
managers and • Root Cause : To many complexity and
their teams bureaucracy
9. Never, Never conduct
post failure reviews

Inclination to sweep the whole failed

project under the rug and move on
as though nothing has happened.

Mistakes are a natural side effect of

many new ventures. Learning from
them, is a trait much more difficult to
acquire

Each project are unique and there is

unpredictable issue faced in previous
failure.
10. Never bother to
understand project trade-
offs
Willingness to sacrifice money
in exchange for schedule, and
vice versa

Balancing acts among rival

demands

Implications of crashing the

project

Calculating the cost benefit

ratio of any trade offs
alternative
11. Allow political
expediency and infighting
to dictate crucial project
decisions

• Need to reshape strategic

focus
• Political decision-making is
often at the expense of
overall organizational
effectiveness

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

12. Make
• Weak leaders are unhelpful and counterproductive
sure the • Good project leader is the one who has to marshaling the
project is run resources , motivating team personnel
• Weaknesses and laxity in place of decisiveness and
by a weak determination
leader

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

 Failure is often a by-product of risky ventures
Projects upset the status quo of organizations
Past project failures doesn’t discourage future efforts and
motivation
Conclusion Two natural reactions from project managers in sight of failure
• To brush aside with as little thought as possible
• To become so focused on failure that it handcuffs an
organization from taking new steps
There are lessons to be learnt from failure- if only we are willing
to learn
End of Slide