How to get out of the current doom spiral: Q&A with Andy Murray, Major Projects Association

It’s time to reappraise what project success looks like so that project professionals can be liberated from a constant fear of failure, urges Andy Murray, Executive Director at the Major Projects Association (MPA). We grilled him to find out exactly what he means. He shared his top tips on getting out of the current doom-spiral, thinking bigger and getting your mojo back.

1.Why is it important to focus on success in projects?

Andy Murray (AM): Since the highs of the 2012 Olympic Games, the mood music for UK major projects hasn’t been great. We have fallen into a doom spiral of talking up the failures and convincing ourselves that the next project will be over budget, late and not delivering to expectations.  

We are neglecting the numerous projects that are delivered well and provide fantastic outcomes for their investors and society. In doing so, we’re letting down the awesome folk who help get those projects started and keep them going to the finish line. 

Professor Paul Chapman’s recent study of major road and rail schemes in the UK and Sweden over approximately a 15-year period revealed that we’re actually quite good. The majority of projects are delivered on time, under budget and to expectation. In fact, his study revealed that projects generally over-deliver on benefits. Who’d have thought that, given all we hear about in the press are the failures? 

Putting a spotlight on success matters. It helps provide that magic ingredient that makes projects work well when we have it, and not when we don’t – confidence! Good levels of confidence help us attract talented people to work on our project, which in turn enhances its capability, making it more likely to succeed – a success spiral.  

2. Do project professionals focus enough on success?

AM: It would be easy to blame the doom spiral on the press, but the link between sales/eyeballs on sensational content has been around for centuries. So, it's down to us project professionals to provide that counterbalance by promoting successes more, and in a more engaging way. We need to be better at telling the story of our projects and the value they create. We need to talk more about the positive impacts they will have on those involved and those impacted – the qualities, and talk less about the quantities.  

When I meet project professionals and ask them about their project, they will often say something like, “It is an £X million, three-year project involving 8km of light rail, three bridges, one tunnel and four new stations.” Instead, they could describe extending a transport network that a further 120,000 people can access within a 10-minute walk of their home, giving them more opportunities for education, work and leisure.

3. What does it mean for a project to be considered a success? Can a project be both a failure and a success?

AM: The MPA explored this question at a recent seminar. The attendees were asked to consider success in terms of deliverable performance and project management performance. Interestingly, there wasn’t a consensus for these considerations, and we concluded that people view success subjectively. What is a success for one person/organisation could be a failure for another. 

A classic example is the Sydney Opera House and the regeneration of the foreshore area of the harbour it enabled. It was massively over budget and more than 15 years late, yet many people regard it as an outstanding success from a delivery performance perspective. It's one of the most iconic buildings in the world and has more than 10 million visitors each year. Worth the wait?

4. So, is it time to reappraise what project success looks like?

AM: Historically, project success has been measured by the ‘triple constraint’ of time, cost and scope as the basis of project performance. However, this narrow view often overlooks the true value that projects are meant to deliver, namely the benefits to wider society. A new triple constraint today might focus on the project relevance by defining benefits through the interaction of value, risks and sustainability. Or instead, we might look at the public or social engagement of the project by focusing on the purpose, passion and dedication of the team delivering it. 

We also need to stop thinking of success/failure as being binary – as there’s a big difference in being 5% from a target to being 500%. Therefore, degrees of success would be more useful for investors, delivery folk and those who hold them to account.

5. How can the successes of projects be better exploited?

AM: We need to put more of a spotlight on successful projects when viewed more holistically and with a bias towards the outcomes, the relevance and the engagement. 

Presentations of case studies at conferences, seminars, webinars and awards ceremonies tend to be most engaging when they take this broader view. The awards ceremonies encourage us to tell the story of our project, which is far more powerful than a lessons learned report. 

6. What would be the effect of focusing on success for the way projects are managed?

AM: [It] should liberate us from the fear of failure. Constantly fearing what could go wrong potentially reduces our appetite for higher-risk, higher-reward projects – and right now with the grand challenges of climate change, ageing populations and economic stagnation, we need a bit more bravery to achieve the results we desperately need. We need to get out of the current doom spiral, think 2012 Games and bigger, and get our mojo back!  

 

For more information, read the Major Projects Association’s report When We Get it Right – A spotlight on success  

 

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