Causes / Indicators of a failing project - and how does this help with Brexit?


Much of my career was spent working with projects and programmes that were failing dramatically, although sometimes much of the failure was not openly acknowledged. My challenge was to rescue / recover the programme.

Here are some of the tell-tale signs which led to or indicated a project in trouble.

Causes / Indicators of a failing project
  • Failure to agree objectives
  • Inability to agree or get commitment to what the benefits of the project will be - why are we doing it?
  • Lack of engagement of stakeholders within one’s own organisation
  • Commitment to make some change without understanding what is involved
  • Unrealistic targets
  • Complexity of the undertaking not understood
  • Failure to look at the implications of the new project on existing commitments
  • Failure to understand the impact of changes being made
  • Failure to recognise key dependencies of activities 
  • Unwillingness to look at evidence
  • Arbitrary deadlines to which public commitment is given before there is a realistic plan
  • Project viewed as mission-critical for the organisation – no limit to the resources that may be devoted to it.
  • Key players act as if major problems can be simply solved and will not cause any delay
  • Negotiations started with external bodies before objectives are agreed with those in authority 
  • Poor relationships with major external stakeholders including public criticism (possibly mutual).
  • Risk analysis not thorough or kept hidden
  • Secrecy about problems
  • Search for quick fixes which may achieve something small but do not address the key problems
  • Insistence on the arbitrary deadline – initially absolute, which turns into an acknowledgement that it must slip by a small amount, before the deadline is recognised as totally unrealistic

The Brexit initiative  suffers from every one of these. We will not leave the European Union on 29th March 2019 or on any date anywhere near this, though it will take time for politicians to acknowledge this. That isn't a political statement, it's just an observation based on experience.

EDIT/NOTES:
1. I've used the term "project" above to describe Brexit, as being a familiar term. It may be better described as a "programme", being a collection of related projects that should in this case be working towards a common overall aim. The same points apply.
2. There are some unique challenges with Brexit. What does the date of 29th March 2019 mean? Currently, because of the Government's negotiation strategy, this is both the date by which a decision on the way forward has to be made (Deal, No Deal, Other Deal, No Brexit), and the date from which the option chosen has to be implemented. Hence the spending on options that  may not be needed.  Hence also the difficulty in focusing on what will be needed.  Surely no well-managed project would ever take such risks?
3 We reach the above situation partly because of another classic problem that I have inserted above "Failure to recognise key dependencies of activities " - for example the Chequers meeting that sought (unsuccessfully) to establish unity among the Cabinet as to what sort of Deal they wanted should have been held before the issuing of Article 50. 

The Way Forward?

The challenge in programme/project management is typically that with several of these problems to deal with, it's difficult to address one without making another problem worse. They can not be tackled in isolation (which is often the approach of existing management). An amnesty for acknowledging problems is often needed, with a new commitment to working together.
So the basis for a more realistic project would often (in my experience ) be:
  • A commitment to honesty and evidence
  • Readiness to agree and follow realistic shared objectives, even if compromise is needed
  • (Usually) some new participants with key role in the project, working with those already involved who know the history.
Do we stand any chance of an honest approach with shared objectives in the current situation? What do you think? 

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