The Change Catalyst

Chapter 4An Obsession with Process over Outcomes

The operation was a complete success. Unfortunately, the patient died …

In a previous life, I was consulting to a financial services firm in the UK and one of the first tasks I was asked to do was to assess the efficacy of the Programme Management Office (PMO). The Head of the PMO duly sent me a ream of documentation covering a range of projects and so, with a cold towel applied to my forehead and a bottomless cup of coffee, I began to plough through them.

Much to my surprise, the documentation was brilliant. The Project Summary documents were clear and concise. Just scanning them, I knew precisely what each project was setting out to achieve, why, the forecast costs, the expected benefits, the project success measures, who was accountable for what, the key implementation risks … each one was perfect. The Project Initiation Documents (PIDs) took it to another level of detail with Gantt charts, critical path analysis, stakeholder analysis, governance framework, project dependencies, a detailed timeline outlining every meeting and milestone and a sound communications plan. Why on earth did the executive team want me to look into this? It was all flawless.

I then met with the PMO Head, expecting this to be the shortest engagement in the history of consulting. She was a formidable lady; the sort of highly competent, take-no-prisoners deliverer that companies need to throw at seemingly intractable problem areas. A lesser person ...