Justification of the Project
So, what’s your answer to my yesterday’s questions? I bet you have a lot to say.
This is the first core principle: Continued Business Justification
There are reasons for doing any project. If you absolutely have no
reason for doing your projects, please get in touch with me; I’ll
introduce a good therapist to you ;)
Sometimes we do projects
to earn money. Sometimes for increasing our credit and improving our
brand. Sometimes for entering into a new market and increasing
opportunities. Sometimes for the society’s benefit. But most of the
time, for a combination of different elements I’ve mentioned. It’s
called the “justification” of your project.
The point is that you should know why you’re doing the project, and preferably document and quantify it. It’s documented in your “business case”. Then, you should use it to “direct” your project. Directing means making high-level decisions.
Let me give you an example: imagine two otherwise identical projects.
One is being done to earn money, and the other for increasing our
credit. Now we are behind schedule, and we must recover. There are only
two options:
- option A: to spend more money on the project, and
- option B: to decrease the quality to a minimum acceptable level
How do you choose?
You will probably choose the second option when the project is being
done for money, and the first option when the project is being done for
increasing your credit. That’s how the justification of the project
impacts your high-level decisions.
Alright, it was our first core principle: continuous business justification.
We’ll discuss the second principle tomorrow. Have you heard the story
of the executive that caused his company to lose millions of Dollars? He
resigned, but the CEO didn’t accept the resignation.
