Why Every ‘Project Success Formula’ You’ve Heard Is Wrong

I see lots of posts about how to deliver successful projects. Do these 2 things and you will be successful. Learn these new skills and you will be successful. I did this one thing and look at all the success I had.

Well, good for you. But that ain’t gonna work for everyone.

I love this quote by Oscar Wilde

"SUCCESS IS A SCIENCE. IF YOU HAVE THE CONDITIONS THEN YOU GET THE RESULT."

Except in projects, I don’t think this holds true. I think success in projects is an art, not a science.

Why success in projects cannot be a science

If we were to be scientific about success, here’s how we would approach it.

First, we’d have to document our state. We would have to know every variable and every piece of data about our current state. Some of it is easy. Budget, progress, task list. Some of it is impossible. Fears, concerns, state of mind, emotions, politics.

Second, we’d have to be able to recreate the starting conditions multiple times, so we can provide a different stimulus and observe the result. Projects are still led by people and made possible by people. For that reason alone, the same two starting conditions will never be present.

Thirdly, you would need to create an environment in which all other outside stimuli, other than the one you are about to apply, are removed from the project. You’d have to put your project in a bubble. Even if that were possible, when you found out the “secret to success” and applied it into a project that was no longer in the bubble, it wouldn’t work. Outside stimuli are a thing in projects that will always be there.

I don’t need to go on, we’re never going to get projects to a state where we can scientifically evaluate what makes a project successful. We can only do that in a context-dependent way. And even then, we’re really bad at describing the context because there’s probably elements of it that weren’t even visible to us.

Success will be improved when we give people the skills so they can apply the right skills to their situation

There’s no short cut and there’s no secret formula.

It doesn’t matter how many times we try to codify what will make a project successful, it will never be true for most projects.

The best we can do is to recognise that skills and experiences will create the best opportunity for a Project Manager to know what to apply to a given situation.

If you want more successful projects, do this one thing

To be successful on projects, you have to continually learn. Continually. Every week. Even every day.

Sure, experience is learning. But to be successful, you need to go beyond that. When was the last time you sat on a training course and picked up a new skill? If you want to be successful, you need to do this every week.

Here’s the list of training courses I’m attending over the next month to keep my skills current. What’s on your list?

• I’ve downloaded “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs” by Carmine Gallo for travel time listening over the next few weeks.

• I have a number of IJPM articles to read, particularly around governance of public projects, voices in a PMO and learning and development on projects.

• I’ve downloaded hundreds of templates and I’m reviewing them to see what other people do for (e.g.) risk management that maybe I don’t.

• I’m attending a section AI training course.

• And I’m reading “How to measure anything” by Douglas W Hubbard to help me when I’m setting project outcomes in places that seem very hard to measure.

• And of course I’m leading my own course on How to deliver better results on projects through Outcome focus. Please register to join me.