Adapt to uncertainty before the project gets expensive
Hello fellow clarity builder
This week is about the Simple Rule: Be Ready to Adapt.
A project approach should fit the uncertainty, not the label.
I learned this after inheriting a large IT infrastructure project that had been required to use a predefined Agile format. When I reviewed the work, I found that it was likely to cost four times the original estimate.
The lesson was not that Agile is wrong. The project had a high cost of change and enough certainty to justify more planning before the major investment decision. We needed to understand the project before choosing the approach.
This issue explores that lesson and an APM article about measuring what can improve a decision.
Do One Thing
Check the uncertainty first
Before choosing a delivery framework, ask:
- How certain are we about the goal?
- How certain are we about the method?
- How expensive will later change be?
Further Reading
Where using Agile can go wrong
This real project lesson looks at what happened when a delivery label came before a clear view of certainty and the cost of change.
What should you measure on a project?
This editorial explores APM’s article How to measure anything in project management and its focus on reducing uncertainty.
See you next time
Greg
Use uncertainty to choose how much your project should plan, test and adapt.
Explore Be Ready to Adapt →
