Blame and shame

The innovation blog

Blame and shame

Few things are quite as enthralling in business as reading about other people’s mistakes. There’s the cheap, vicarious enjoyment of another company’s misfortune and stupidity but there is also, if we’re thoughtful enough, the chance to ask: how many of those blunders would I have made?

Steve McConnell, an American author who specialises in software, has posted an intriguing blog on why software developments go wrong (http://www.stevemcconnell.com/rdenum.htm). And many of the classic mistakes he so clearly enumerates apply to any kind of business and any kind of project – his remark that too many projects fall because they are based on wishful thinking seems especially apposite. “How many times have I heard statements that none of the team members really believed they could complete the project according to the schedule they were given?” asks McConnell rhetorically. Maybe that should be the first question you ask when you start your next project: who here really believes this is going to work?