Sometimes we want things we are not ready to use, like a bike that is too big for you at Christmas or being the only person you know with a Play station and all your friends have Xboxs.

Case number 1 Danica: This was a project we worked on to develop the factory of the future. Best practice operating procedures, best environment, best people, best systems and machinery. As you can imagine this was a tough call, however I was responsible for the best systems. This did not mean the very best, it meant best using the tools we had.

Like all project managers, I met with the stakeholders and got there brief, then with the manager and finally with the users. We built a value map for the proposition and while what they wanted was a large step forward, it seamed possible to me. The “SuperBin Concept” was pretty awesome compared to where we had been in the past. It was truly a quantum step forward. At the Demo and UAT everyone was impressed, “this is the first time I have really seen the power of SAP to enable us to make a step forward” etc etc.

Long story short they got exactly what they wanted. I had the head of operations say to me, “Great job, glad you guys in IT listened”.

So this was a success …. Yes for us, the IT team, no one could doubt the spec or design or that we had fulfilled. Our problem was the managers all got fired over 6 months. The users left and their replacements were poorly retrained. We never managed to get the system to where we wanted it. The team were too busy focused on expedite or steeling stock from one order to another. Bottom line was they got what they asked for, but were not ready to actually use it.

I learnt that while drinking the “cool aid” is part of the job. The project managers also has to level set the ability of the customer to achieve their aims. Its better to give them a simple system that they can develop, than an amazing one they can barely administer user accounts in.

Its tough to tell people they can’t handle what you can do, but it doesn’t mean its not so.