Why Projects Fail: What's the Difference and What Should We Learn?
This is a slide I used on many presentations over 20 years. My question was “What’s the underlying difference between the two, seemingly identical, lists?”
It always instigated lots of ideas ranging from different methodologies, through different industries to differently certified project managers. No-one ever got the answer straight off.
When I first started using this slide the answer was “25 years”. When I retired it was “40 years”.
These are the symptoms of project failure that I first saw listed in conference proceedings from 1972. You still see them on LinkedIn today. They are not underlying causes.
To stop projects failing, we need culture change in the way organisations foster and incubate their projects, not just more faddish sticking plasters.
Article “Why Projects Fail” Whats the Difference and What Should We Learn??? written by Adrain Dooley United Kingdom 16th February 2025
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