Tony Collins has compiled a list of Project Management facts which might very well be the ‘Mythical Man-Month’ for the new era. It explains why so many IT projects fail so aptly that I had to reproduce it here:
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Projects with realistic budgets and timetables don’t get approved
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Activity in the early stages should be dedicated to finding the correct questions
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The more desperate the situation the more optimistic the progress report
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A user is somebody who rejects the system because it’s what he asked for
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The difference between project success and failure is a good PR company
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Nothing is impossible for the person who doesn’t have to do it
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Every failing, overly ambitious project, has at its heart a series of successful small ones trying to escape
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A freeze on change melts whenever heat is applied
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There’s never enough time to do it right first time
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You understood what I said, not what I meant
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If you don’t know where you’re going, just talk about specifics
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If at first you don’t succeed, rename the project
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Everyone wants a strong project manager - until they get him
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Only idiots own up to what they really know (thank you to President Nixon)
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The worst project managers sleep at night
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A failing project has benefits which are always spoken of in the future tense
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Projects don’t fail in the end; they fail at conception
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Visions are usually treatable
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Overly ambitious projects can never fail if they have a beginning, middle and no end
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In government we never punish error, only its disclosure
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The most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest
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A realist is one who’s presciently disappointed in the future
I am pretty sure most of us can relate to these ;)
