Comments on: The Conference we’ll never Attend http://sisyphuschronicles.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/the-conference-well-never-attend/ Management: Mayhem & Marvels Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:48:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU hourly 1 By: kcowan http://sisyphuschronicles.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/the-conference-well-never-attend/#comment-997 kcowan Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:29:10 +0000 http://sisyphuschronicles.wordpress.com/?p=59#comment-997 I believe it is deeper than that. The failures are usually the fault of management that does not understand the process they are involved in. If these people could articulate the reasons for the failure, they would not likely have failed in the first place. This is why external consultants can sometimes add value, but only if the client is open to their discoveries and feedback. I believe it is deeper than that. The failures are usually the fault of management that does not understand the process they are involved in. If these people could articulate the reasons for the failure, they would not likely have failed in the first place.

This is why external consultants can sometimes add value, but only if the client is open to their discoveries and feedback.

]]> By: Phil G http://sisyphuschronicles.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/the-conference-well-never-attend/#comment-934 Phil G Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:45:10 +0000 http://sisyphuschronicles.wordpress.com/?p=59#comment-934 Hey Peter, Now that would be a conference that I would pay big bucks to attend! When I was an SAP consultant, I worked five implementations with three different consulting firms over six years. The first was a limited success; on-time but with reduced scope and probably slightly over budget. The second was a complete failure that ended up in litigation. The third was successful, the fourth a failure, and the fifth a limited success. The mistakes that led to the failures in each project were similar in nature. However, the project teams never seemed to learn, never wanted to accept that they were more likely to fail than to succeed, never evolved. And the emphasis was always on billing hours as opposed to delivering a quality product. Talking honestly about failure would be a step in the right direction, but I won’t hold my breath waiting for it to happen. Phil G Hey Peter,
Now that would be a conference that I would pay big bucks to attend!
When I was an SAP consultant, I worked five implementations with three different consulting firms over six years. The first was a limited success; on-time but with reduced scope and probably slightly over budget. The second was a complete failure that ended up in litigation. The third was successful, the fourth a failure, and the fifth a limited success.
The mistakes that led to the failures in each project were similar in nature. However, the project teams never seemed to learn, never wanted to accept that they were more likely to fail than to succeed, never evolved. And the emphasis was always on billing hours as opposed to delivering a quality product.
Talking honestly about failure would be a step in the right direction, but I won’t hold my breath waiting for it to happen.
Phil G

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