One of my guilty pleasures is watching the HGTV shows House Hunters and House Hunters International. I don’t have the HGTV programming guide committed to memory, so I’m always thrilled when I settle in and find four of these shows over a two-hour span! The House Hunters brand is the original, but there are many variants that focus on specific features — log cabins, beachfront, island living, etc.
The shows are hugely formulaic — always a couple of people with vastly different views on what they want or think they need in a new home. There are always three or four choices, always a debate toward the end on who is going to compromise more on what they had originally wanted. In the end, there is a decision made that is almost always "the best decision for us” or "the best decision for our family.”
“Best decisions” imply that there has been an assessment, and the shows continually remind us what those criteria are: Close to work? Close to shopping? Within budget? Pool? Master bedroom with en suite bathroom? A house, after all, is probably the largest single investment a family makes, and while we’re not limited to the number of houses that can be purchased over time, the size of the investment causes us to think critically about what we need and want and whether or not the choice we make satisfies those criteria.
When we make investment decisions in the public sector, how do we evaluate them against each other and make a choice? What are the criteria we use? What measurements help us evaluate “goodness of fit” for an implementation approach?
Like a house for a family, information technology projects are generally some of the largest investments that public-sector agencies will make. Procurement decisions for these projects are fairly well-established and documented — lots of thought goes into how responses to requests for proposals will be evaluated and how the contracts will be awarded. But how do we evaluate the method we choose for implementing a new system? How do we make the “… best decision for our family (organization)?”
If we make the wrong decision, nobody is happy. The “need” for a new technology system is often divorced from the actual conditions that shape how the system should be implemented. If we look across the organization at what sorts of characteristics we have as an organization, how many and what kind of resources we have, how we manage the business of technology implementation, and the characteristics of our technology environment now and in the future, we can assess decisions across four general categories — Culture, People, Process and Technology. Looking at these dimensions of our organization can help us make better decisions about how we proceed and can help us prepare for better technology implementations.
This may seem like an extra step in an already complicated process, but the investment is priceless — if you find that you’re not ready to take on a project or not ready to use an emerging process, you will improve your chances of success by addressing the shortfalls you find. Let’s take a closer look.
Culture — What kind of environment do we have? Are we generally a trusting organization? How do our stakeholders factor into our organization? Do we embrace risk-taking behavior? Do we punish mistakes? Do we have vision and strategy? Does our leadership and governance structure promote a particular method of operation? Do we distribute decision-making? Do we have clearly articulated business goals for our project? Answers to these questions will help you understand what method of implementation your organization can support.
People — Do we have enough people to get the work on our plates done now? Are we prepared to provide appropriate resources for the project? Do we have a good track record with successful implementations of project now? Do we have a good relationship between our IT group and the lines of business? Do we have good team dynamics and stakeholder engagement? Does the environment promote the identification of risks? Are we planning to reassign work for the project or add it to the plate? Are our executives actively engaged and supportive of all aspects of the project? Has our executive team recognized the importance of investing in organizational change management?
Process — Have we adequately planned the project operations (after the project approval from control agencies has been completed)? Do we know in advance how project decisions will be made? Have we revisited and/or readjusted our original estimates for scope, schedule and budget (regardless of implementation method)? Do we have adequate methods for articulating and tracking requirements? Do we know how changes to the project will be handled, and have we defined what kinds of changes need to go through that process? Are we able to articulate how all of the pieces of the project puzzle fit together? Will the project be developed through agile or waterfall methodology, and will that make a difference in the end?
Technology — Does the solution architecture fit our organization’s technology strategy? Do we have the skills to support the finished product in-house or will we always need outsourced assistance? How much will it cost us on an annual basis (all the costs, not just licensing) to maintain the new solution? Have we accounted for differences in how we budget for costs (capital expenses versus operating expenses), and are we confident we can sustain the funding model?
These dimensions are well-documented in the project management literature. Indeed, failure to consider these dimensions and the elements listed above constitutes the major reason for project failure, regardless of the project management method. Each of them is a lesson to be learned from. One of my favorite quotations illustrates this nicely: “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” (Colin Powell)
If we ask ourselves each of these questions and cannot answer any one of them, we have identified a risk. But what is more important to note is that we should be asking and answering all of these questions before we start. And depending upon the answers, when all these elements are considered, we may find that a different “solution” best meets our needs, that a different decision is the “best decision for our family.”
