#DELIVER · LinkedIn post · English translation
Programme steering series (4/7): Why the fires keep burning – despite the firefighters
People who prevent fires go unnoticed – while the firefighters are praised in the steering committee.
Count the escalations from recent weeks in a steering committee meeting, and something often stands out: most come from the same two or three interfaces.
Each fire is put out quickly and with considerable effort. The task force is proud, the steering committee satisfied. A week later, the same spot is burning again.
People who escalate at night and present a solution in the morning look like heroes. Those who clarify an interface before it catches fire do not appear in any status report.
What helps is unspectacular. Every recurring escalation gets an owner responsible for addressing the cause. And the steering committee stops asking what was put out, and starts asking what no longer catches fire.
The PMI’s current ‘Pulse of the Profession’ shows that complexity has long been the normal state of projects. What matters is whether we actively steer it – or merely react to its consequences.
For me, recurring escalations mainly point to poor prevention.
Which escalation have you resolved twice in the past four weeks – instead of addressing its cause once?
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