Most of us have a natural bias towards seeing the positive side of things. But if you’ve been working for a bit, you know things never go as planned. In fact, 70% of all projects fail according to a study by the Standish Group. From internal conflict to poor planning to unrealistic expectations. There are a number of reasons projects go over budget, get delayed, fail or bridges get burned, people quit and so on.
" It turned out that engineering had a financial incentive to launch by a certain date while the brand team’s goals were tied to the brand experience + sales." If I had a dollar for every time I've seen misaligned incentives I wouldn't have to work a day in my life.
Great point to drive home the importance of pre-mortems. I default to thinking how I can apply that to my personal life and my own endeavors without psyching myself out. I guess it becomes a bit like the fear journaling exercise (where you outline the worst case scenario, the likelihood of happening, and mitigating factors).
" It turned out that engineering had a financial incentive to launch by a certain date while the brand team’s goals were tied to the brand experience + sales." If I had a dollar for every time I've seen misaligned incentives I wouldn't have to work a day in my life.
Great point to drive home the importance of pre-mortems. I default to thinking how I can apply that to my personal life and my own endeavors without psyching myself out. I guess it becomes a bit like the fear journaling exercise (where you outline the worst case scenario, the likelihood of happening, and mitigating factors).
Great topic this week!
Thanks Camilo! Yes, I'm the same way. Pre-mortems and fear journaling are such great tools for personal life too!