When failure is not an option
TL;DR Right person + Right task + Right tool= SUCCESS
Did your project fail? It happens. The important thing is to reflect and learn; to figure out how to avoid the same result next time. Was it bad luck? Not the right timing? Did your people have a bad day? Possible, but not likely. Most likely it's your failure (the leader) to learn from. Or the requirement didn't fit the team… Yep, I know, it was an amazing opportunity, you just couldn't pass it up. As a wise man said:
“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes — then learn how to do it later!”
― Richard Branson
I can’t agree more. But remember, if something went wrong, it was probably.not.your.team’s.fault. Perhaps they were learning and weren’t ready. Next time they’ll perform better.
Let’s get deep. 70% of projects are likely to fail. The failure of IT costs the U.S. economy about $50-$150 billion annually. 17% of IT projects go so badly that they can threaten the very existence of the company. It’s terrifying! This all makes me wonder how we can fight against… failing.
Here is my take. Watch out your tooling, and then if you get the right person doing the right task with a crystal clear requirement, you will minimize the need to double-check the output. The quality is going to be there. So if you already have an elite team (so hard nowadays), let them create! They are great, so let them do what they love…
I mean you can win without a real-time “radar”. I’m not saying throw the ball and disappear, be sure every player is in the right position. I’m saying let them know what is expected, then step back — just not too far, as they will need feedback sometimes and someone has to be there to give it to them.
When a new requirement comes up, define it as clear as possible. Then divide into tiny tasks (with a description as simple as a tweet). Then allocate the right person for every single task. Sounds easy, right? It’s harder than it looks — and so important! Why? Because to me:
Right person + Right task + Right Tools = SUCCESS
In my experience, often a failed task can be attributed to one of the following:
- You didn’t choose the right person to get it done (the one with the right skills and motivation).
- You didn’t choose the right task, i.e. it was out of the scope of the team. Go and hire!!!
- You didn’t explain well what needs to be done i.e. you’ve given out a “spaghetti requirement”, impossible to read it within a minute.
- You didn’t choose or have the right tooling, i.e. Software, latest technology, Libraries (React), etc.
That is what we are trying at Front10 with a team of just thirteen. For us, “success” works this way: focus on getting better and faster (right task) at creating great React components (right tool), and we already have the right people… so failure is not an option.
Sources:
McKinsey & Company in conjunction with the University of Oxford
