Reflections on «Making Projects Succeed»
What you Don't Do
Focus on the most important goal.
In any endeavour you must set priorities and of course top priorities should get most attention.
However, in a crisis situation, this general recommendation is meaningless and could be counter-productive. The most important goal in the endeavour may well be the stumbling block that was the cause of the project collapse.
In relation to goals, the goal focus now has to be on what outcomes benefit others, and the top priority action has to be a procedure that can deliver results relevant to that with confidence.
"Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools" Napoleon stated, probably just before his invasion of Russia in which he destroyed his entire army of half-a-million men and gained nothing.
Leadership and Vision
Leaders are commonly exhorted to provide a vision for their followers. That vision is the in this framework.
A classic example is the speech that Shakespeare puts into the young Henry V's mouth on St. Crispin's day just before the Battle of Agincourt, when the English are hopelessly outnumbered by the French. Henry asks his men to imagine the glory and immortality that will be theirs if they are victorious, and he paints various scenarios.
It is important realize that a vision constructed out of images is a limited tool. So, it cannot substitute in large organizations for . These are required to guide cultural and strategic development as well as serve as a framework for operations. The is a complex structure of purposes that provide inspiration (from ), loyalty (from the ), communal integration (from the ), and the raison d'etre (from the ). See more in Ch. 10 Working with Values.
Initially posted: 21-Aug-2013