Get It Right the Last Time: Developing an Agile Attitude

Home  >  Articles  > 
Get It Right the Last Time: Developing an Agile Attitude

Doug DeCarlo, Principal, The Doug DeCarlo Group

September 5, 2006






<A TARGET="_blank" HREF="http://www.gantthead.com/clickCount.cfm?ID=245891"><IMG SRC="/flash/336x280_project07_seeinaction.gif" BORDER=0></A>
I was brought up in the project management school of thought that preached, “Get it right the first time!” On the surface, it made a lot of sense. That way I wouldn’t find myself at the end of a project and discover that I had to do all or most of it over again. By then, any mistake would be very costly to fix or to re-do.
 
“Get it right the first time” makes good sense when the requirements are well known, if not fixed, and when the means for getting the job done are clear cut and proven.
 
However, the “get-it-right-the-first-time” philosophy is counter productive under circumstances where the final deliverable can not be known in advance with certainty, and more so when the means to achieving the end result are nebulous. Here you face the double whammy of an extreme project: Both the what (we are supposed to do) and the how (to get it done) are uncertain.
 
Under conditions of uncertainty, a project’s trajectory looks more like the unpredictable path of a heat-seeking missile attempting to catch up with a moving target.



Please login/register to read the entire article.





sponsored announcements and special offers
"Selecting the Right Requirements Management Tool – Or Maybe None Whatsoever" – Get your free copy of this independent report by Forrester Research, compliments of MKS.

Are your employees working or social networking?
The rise of online social networking poses new risks for businesses and new challenges for IT Management. This FREE 7-Step Guide presents seven simple steps to help control the use of social networking sites in your workplace.

Project Management Doesn't Stop When Economic Pressures are High. Learn how and why Daptiv PPM is cost effective, flexible, and beneficial to your entire organization. For Proven Return On Investment and Speed to Benefit - Download the Forrester Consulting Study Now!

Increase your efficiency by learning key IS/IT project mgt, IS security or Six Sigma practices –100% online. Save up to $1,540 on a master certificate from Villanova!

"The Forrester Wave: Project Portfolio Management Tools" by Lewis Cardin is a comprehensive evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of over 14 Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) vendors across 95 criteria. This report highlights why CA is a leader and it is a must-read for anyone considering investing in a PPM solution.