Home | Login | Recent Changes | Search | All Pages | Help

WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

I really like Esther's approach to risk identification. Sometimes, the risks that are the hardest to manage are obvious to many project participants, but no one's talking about them. So, I have some questions for you:

- What risks have you noticed that no one's talking about?

- What happens if you ask the What Could Possibly Go Wrong questions?

-- JohannaRothman 05.05.02

A few years back I was hired to do risk assessment and risk management for an ERP project. After about half-an-hour talking to the project manager and his boss (my client) I had the information I needed to know the project was doomed. Most clients want something a bit more formal. So I used a more standard risk checklist and ranking sort of thing.

I walked through the information wiht my client who informed me, in no uncertain terms, that "Failure is not an option!" She supressed the risk assessment and keep the risk information from project stakeholder and her boss.

This of course, confirmed my belief that the project was doomed: the person responsible for oversight was not able to handle information about the gap between the current state and what she wished could be.

Which is another thing that can go wrong: the people who are responsible for managing the project are unwilling or unable to hear information that tells them the current state does not match the desired state.

EstherDerby 050802.