Stop! This project is too safe
We wrap children in cotton wool so they don’t hurt themselves, only to find that they no longer have the confidence to do anything for themselves any more. Is the same thing happening to projects? Is a...
View ArticleFinding opportunities to change
Business are being challenged today like never before. The advent of IT and rapid communications has led to contract negotiations and time-to-market plummeting from months or years in days gone by to a...
View ArticleThe double life of risk
International risk standards and guidelines such as ISO31000:2009 define risk as a double-sided concept. This includes the possibility of both upside and downside risks, with either positive or...
View ArticleWhen opportunity knocks
“Knock, knock!” “Who’s there?” “Opportunity.” “Opportunity who?” “Does it matter? Just open up!” Sometimes you have to be completely silent in order to hear it. Turn off the news reporting the disaster...
View ArticleThinking at the margin for project managers
Thinking at the margin is economists’ way of describing what happens when people make decisions based on incremental cost-benefit analyses. It’s certainly a factor in agile project management—but...
View ArticleHow project managers can combat silo thinking
Threats emerge and opportunities are missed when the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Here’s how project managers can bridge silos, support better risk management and assist...
View Article10 ways the Iron Triangle destroys project success
There is an assumption that the Iron Triangle/Triple Constraint measures of ‘on time, on budget, to specification’ are benign. There is no harm or risk in using them as the measures of project success....
View ArticleProviding risk infrastructure to support opportunity management
Failure to provide an appropriate level of risk infrastructure can cripple risk management in an organisation. Too little support makes it difficult to implement the risk process efficiently, while...
View Article5 reasons why opportunity should be part of your risk management
Many of the pieces are now in place to support widespread adoption of inclusive risk management that addresses both threats and opportunities. International standards define risk as double-sided, and...
View ArticleCan project managers succeed at complexity?
In 1949, work started on the Snowy Mountains Scheme to provide hydroelectricity and irrigation waters to southeast Australia. The network of 16 dams, three reservoirs, seven power stations and 145...
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