Work: What Went Wrong?

If everyone thinks the same way, then society would fail at the first stupid idea

Over the last few days, I got some time to think about what make and break a project. After some long thought, it comes down these few reasons:

• people: managers, co-workers, supporting teams, external teams
• plan: vision, milestones, requirements, designs
• execution: tools, communications, automation
• non-engineering: timeline, finance, competitors

So, why oh why... do projects fail? Because there are thousands of ways it could go wrong. And should one factor stands out too much, it becomes a loose string in a sweater that slowly taking other parts down with it.
      If the leader has no vision, then there is no direction
      If the team does not have the right tools, then the product will be delayed
      If the co-workers do not get along, then parts won't fit well together

So, when I was asked what went well, I could have given the usual answer -- we work hard, we tried to plan, we created some automation, etc. But I answered with what went wrong -- lack planning, and insufficient tools. However, I never got around to people... It is sad to see that there are much more to be said, but change-agents limit the scope. If the goal is to bring changes, then all ideas should come before any time constraints. The insufficiency of patient, sincerity, and humility is what I see, and it means nothing will change. THAT is what went wrong after all the wrongs...