This deck considers why Major Implementation Projects are seldom stopped, until its too late. What the impediments are to good decision making and how to overcome them.

1. The messy middle of
major implementation
projects
-
Persist, Pivot or Quit?
Confirming the right course of action for major projects

2. The middle phase of complex projects is difficult, do
you persist, pivot or quit?
“...In the messy middle, unexpected obstacles pop up because the path is uncharted. Fatigue sets in.
Team members turn over. Impatient critics attack just when you think you’re gaining traction. Tough
challenges almost inevitably take longer and cost more than our optimistic predictions.
That’s why persistence and perseverance are important for anyone leading a new venture, change
project, or turnaround. But the miserable middle offers a choice point: Do you stick with the venture
and make mid-course corrections, or do you abandon it? Do you support incumbents making progress
even though the job is not yet finished, or do you abandon them for another group’s unproven
promises?”
Source: Rosabeth Moss Kanter - Harvard Business Review, 23 October 2012

3. Details vary, but the symptoms often include:
● Delayed releases
● Extended schedules
● Increased cost estimates
● Growing concerns about the technology solution
● Strained Vendor/Delivery Partner relationship
Complex Projects often have a messy middle
The question is: should you persist, pivot or quit?

4. You need to (re)confirm the why, the how and the what
‘Why’ - are we doing the right thing?
[Re]Confirm with key stakeholders the reasons ‘why’ we need the project. Has the situation
changed? Are there better investments? This will achieve alignment and set the guiding
principles.
‘How’ - are we doing it the right way?
Confirm the best approach to take in delivering the project. Actively generate and consider
alternatives. Is there another way, a better way, than the way you are currently heading?
‘What’ - are we using the right products?
Confirm that the chosen products are [still] fit for purpose now and in the future.

5. You need confirmation that is rational and unbiased
These decisions need to be based on rational, unbiased, thinking with benefits
for organisation at its heart. This is not easy, we need to overcome:
● Confirmation bias Seeking evidence that supports your pre-existing position and ignoring
evidence that refutes it. People with existing opinions will struggle to change them.
● Personal and professional investment. An essential ingredient for success, but it
can also makes achieving a balanced view challenging. Project Sponsors want the project to
succeed, Project Directors want the project to succeed, Vendors want the project to succeed.
These roles struggle to gain fresh perspective and recognise that it is time to pivot or quit.
● The pull of “sunk costs”. The tendency to invest more in a project increases with the
amount already spent 1
1
Howard Garland Throwing Good Money After Bad: The Effect of Sunk Costs on the Decision to Escalate Commitment to an Ongoing
Project, Journal of Applied Psychology 1990, VV»1- 75, No. 6,728-731

6. Beware the new team trap
When progress is faltering, a new management team is often installed. This can
provide fresh impetus and thinking on how to make the project succeed but it
will seldom question why the project should proceed.
Personal and professional investment means that it is very unlikely that the new
team will question the rationale for doing the project in the first place.
Without this test and confirmation of direction, existing issues and fresh
challenges can quickly overcome the new team.
Put a new team in after you’ve confirmed you should continue.

7. 1. Why. Get all major stakeholders to (re)confirm the reasons why the project
needs to exist. Insist on active participation, ensure authentic alignment.
No passive acceptance.
2. How. Test alternative ways of achieving the desired outcome - e.g. Can
another product be used? Can the project be run in a different way? Can
we achieve the outcomes without an implementation project?
3. What. Test the product choice. Get confirmation on what areas of the
product (if any) give cause for concern, focus development and testing on
these to prove or disprove issues.
If the answer to 1 is positive, then use Design Thinking for 2 & 3. Aim for
minimum cost, minimum delay, maximum value.
How to challenge/confirm the why, how and what

8. How you can test that the project can deliver?
1. Set up the smallest viable team that can cover the product, business and
technology issues. Make sure they are capable, motivated, and good
communicators. No doubters only doers.
2. Minimise the costs of the rest of the project: redeploy, reduce and remove
the risk of nugatory work.
3. Provide the team access to the environment(s) and tools that they need
4. Agree a ‘release plan’ - what does the business and the team plan to build
and by when? What does success look like?
5. Give the team full support and protection from unnecessary distractions.
Prove the project can deliver, or prove there is a problem.

9. The exercises leading up to and including the proof provide clear, unbiased,
and timely evidence to support a decision to persist, pivot or quit.
For the persist or pivot option, this means that the project is reset for success
with renewed commitment and understanding of the why, how and what.
For the quit option, this means that the reasons and evidence are clear and that
the disengagement process can commence knowing that the project and
product were given a ‘fair go”.
Base the decision on whether to persist, pivot or quit
on the evidence you have gathered

10. Appendix
12 questions on persist, pivot or quit
Rosabeth Moss Kanter - Harvard Business Review, 23 October 2012

11. Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s HBR article presents 12 questions...
1. Are the initial reasons for the effort still valid, with no consequential external changes?
2. Do the needs for which this is a solution remain unmet, or are competing solutions still unproven or inadequate?
3. Would the situation get worse if this effort stopped?
4. Is it more cost-effective to continue than to pay the costs of restarting?
5. Is the vision attracting more adherents?
6. Are leaders still enthusiastic, committed and focused on the effort?
7. Are resources available for continuing investment and adjustments?
8. Is skepticism and resistance declining?
9. Is the working team motivated to keep going
10. Have critical deadlines and key milestones been met?
11. Are there signs of progress, in that some problems have been solved, new activities are underway, and trends are positive?
12. Is there a concrete achievement - a successful demonstration, prototype or proof of concept?
If you have more ‘no’ than ‘yes’ answers, you should quit