Why? A unique question for Project Managers

January 3, 8:34 AMWorkplace ExaminerHoward Flomberg

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This weekend I was re-reading "Getting Things Done" by David Allen and I was struck by two points.

1. I googled "Alternatives to GTD" and got about 337,000 hits.One hit that stood out was a frontal assault on the book itself. The primary reason for not using GTD was that you have to read the book? D'oh!

2. WHY? In his book, Mr. Allen posits a fascinating concept. When you are planning your project, the first phase should be defining the purpose of the project. In other words: Why  are we doing it? Allen lists the value of asking this, and his primary "Value" is: It Defines Success.

In all my years of working projects, this is the speck of dust in any project managers eye. When I am asked to list the reasons for any projects failure the first reason that I come up with unerringly is - We did not define Success!  or, in my words "We did not properly define 'How do we know when we're done?'"

Without proper definition you're subject to "That's not quite what I wanted" or "Can you do it in green". Without defining success the project is open-ended. You will most probably never satisfy the user. Why should the user be satisfied - he has an open-ended contract. If you were unfortunate to propose a fixed price contract, you have now set yourself up in an arrangement that the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution was designed to prevent - Slavery.

Read the book! It's only 250 pages and you can get it for about ten bucks.