Have you ever noticed how often we rely on our plans to run as smoothly as a dance? In the late 1970s, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky observed that this planning fallacy is common across many fields – over-optimism affects us all.

Perhaps at the beginning of the year, it’s good to pause and consider why IT projects often face scheduling challenges. In the words of Henry Mintzberg, we succeed or fail during transformation depending on how prepared we are to embrace change. Could it be that a comprehensive understanding of the impact of change on the organization is often missing too early in the process?

The preparation for a project is often considered in terms of resources. But are the needs for changes to future processes and business models sometimes forgotten in the very early stages?

For instance, the changes brought about by transformation to business models and processes are not recognized early enough. And when they are recognized, the practice of new processes and the operational implementation of new business models often remain incomplete. Adopting new business models takes time – it’s human. What if we prioritized these considerations from the planning stage, also taking them into account in technology choices?

Change is an opportunity, and it should reflect positively in our business architecture. Technology choices and technical specifications can wait until we are certain that they support the strategic direction of the business.

Acknowledging the changes to processes helps to plan the implementation phase schedule more realistically. If important changes to business models and processes are discovered during the implementation phase after the technology choice, the risks of project failure increase.

Here also hides another business risk that is rarely identified; Enterprise systems may not in themselves provide a significant competitive edge. However, the competitiveness of an organization suffers if the performance of Enterprise systems does not meet market demands and their development is slow. Slow development is costly when competitors move forward quickly.

At Maya, we do expert work precisely on these matters. With planning started in time, considering the organization’s overall readiness to embrace change, we can avoid surprises and maintain better control over our projects.

If you are interested in discussing comprehensive project planning with Maya, get in touch!