Observation 4 - We suck at delivering large and complex change
This blog is where I get to write about project failure. I have written and spoken about project failure a lot over the years and my first instinct was to simply trot out all the same research here. Then I paused and thought. In a world that is changing rapidly as ours is, is it wise to rely on research that in many cases is 5 + years old? Probably not and to do so would perhaps be some what hypocritical. So the last few weeks I have done a lot of searching and reading to ensure I have up to date information to share here. I needn't have bothered, nothing much has changed in the research around project failures. The Standish Groups Chaos report still says that around 70% of software development projects fail and that large projects fail at a much greater rate than small projects McKinsey still reports 70% of change initiative fail and on it goes. Because nothing has changed I am in fact just going to trot out the evidence, evidence that has been clear for years, this is an