Standish 2009 CHAOS report
The Standish Group has released their latest survey on project success, CHAOS 2009. And it doesn't sound like good new. In fact, it sounds like the same news: We (collectively) don't know how to manage projects. No wonder that people don't believe in the success possible with Critical Chain Project Management.
Standish Group's press release for CHAOS 2009.
Boston, Massachusetts, April 23, 2009 - New Standish Group report shows more project failing and less successful projects.
The Standish Group's just-released report, "CHAOS Summary 2009," "This year's results show a marked decrease in project success rates, with 32% of all projects succeeding which are delivered on time, on budget, with required features and functions" says Jim Johnson, chairman of The Standish Group, "44% were challenged which are late, over budget, and/or with less than the required features and functions and 24% failed which are cancelled prior to completion or delivered and never used."
"These numbers represent a downtick in the success rates from the previous study, as well as a significant increase in the number of failures", says Jim Crear, Standish Group CIO, "They are low point in the last five study periods. This year's results represent the highest failure rate in over a decade"
In the "CHAOS Summary 2009" report The Standish Group has re-examined 10 the CHAOS Success Factors. Each Success factor is supported by one of the Laws of CHAOS. The Standish Group's "CHAOS Summary 2009" report is available free of charge to Standish Group subscribers. Non-subscribers may obtain copies directly from The Standish Group for $99.00 per copy and the offer also includes Jim Johnson's book "My Life is Failure".
8 Comment(s)
The strength of any process is the degree to which it is known and understood. It's a necessary starting point for any improvement, but also a necessity so as to reduce the risk of failure in each iteration. Project Management processes (the model) aren't known well nor incorporated. In other words the model which is supposed to protect the task fails to do so. This is greatly enhanced by a general complexity of project environments.
Project Management should be treated like a rarely-used, high risk function with serious entry barriers and not as a grounds for practicing 'swim or sink' strategies on new generations of wannabe managers where a standard organizational process will not do.
Greetings!
-Lech
said:
Thanks, both of you. The problem I have seen in my consulting is that people assume that project management consists only of planning the project. That is like saying a vacation is drawing the route on a printed map.
Project management requires planning (writing down what you think might happen) and active management of the project (dealing with the fact that what you thought might happen didn't).
How much of this dramatic increase in project failure is due to outsourcing projects to India, China, etc.
said:
Thanks for the comment, Steve.
Interesting thought. There are lots of coordination issues that people didn't account for in the first waves of outsourcing, but I'd guess most of that has been figured out now.
Of course, I don't have any data to back that up.
Given how controversial the Standish numbers are, and how important, I'd like to see if your experience agrees. I posted a one-question survey here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=oOq7Hzgz6BCYZfgZoNC72w_3d_3d
There is an input for email address, if you'd like to get results back.
I feel that the biggest reason for project failures is the incapability of IT and technical leadership to do justice with their jobs.
Read my article where I discuss this further.
Have a great day,
Muhammad Haroon SoftwareRockstar.com
Program management has many challenges. Chiefy the relationship between the strategy makers and operations executers. I believe the next area lies in sponsor support.
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We would do a lot better at managing work in general if we would simply admit that there are some things that we just don't know. And can't.