The Unseen Factor Impacting Your Projects and Products - and What You Can Do About It

04/15/2023 COPYRIGHT 2015 - MICHAEL K. HARRIS 1

The Unseen Factor Impacting Your Projects and ProductsAND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT


What Do These 3 Have in Common?

A House Fire A Dog Fight Your Next Project or Product

They all require good perceptions and decisions.


Example: House Fire Fire-fighters are taught the following process steps when fighting a fire:

1. Rescue – are there lives at risk?2. Exposure – consider the surroundings3. Confinement – don’t let it spread4. Extinguishment – put it out5. Overhaul – ensure ongoing safety


Example: House Fire• Based upon those process steps what would you do if you arrived at a fire and a person rushes at you frantically screaming “my babies are in the house, save them!”

• Would you run right into the fire?

• Would your decision be different if you asked the names and ages of the babies and were told they were pets?


Example: Top Gun Dog Fight

• Maverick (Tom Cruise) was the Pilot responsible for flying the plane.• Goose (Anthony Edwards) was the Radar Information Officer (RIO) responsible for

providing immediate information about changes in the combat environment.• They were trained in air combat at the “Top Gun” school.


Example: Top Gun Dog Fight

• Remember when the radar showed there were 6 enemy fighters instead of 2?• How did their decisions change?


Example: Your Next Project or Product

• You have trained Product Managers, Project Managers, documented Product Life Cycle Development and System Development Life Cycle processes, and a Portfolio Management and ERM System.

• You’ve completed a business plan and project management plan for a critical business initiative.


Example: Your Next Project or Product

• What’s your confidence factor for success?

• What is the basis of your confidence? (The “Why”)


Some Project Statistics from 2012:

According to the Standish CHAOS Manifesto of 2013 the following are the chances of your project being successful, challenged, or failing:

Bottom Line: Unless your project is small, the chances for success are not in your favor.

Project Size Successful Challenged Failed

Overall / Combined 39% 43% 18%

Small 76% 20% 4%

Large 10% 52% 38%

• Successful means the project met all of the expectations for scope, cost, and schedule.• Challenged means the project met some of the expectations for scope, cost, and schedule.• Failed means the project was cancelled or the deliverables were never used.


Could There Be a Missing Factor? Despite investments and improvements in Project Management, Program Management, Portfolio Management, Product Management, and System Life Cycle Development Processes and Methodologies - the overall statistics for project success are still not in your favor.

Could there be a missing factor?

What if you reframed the question: Is there an unseen common denominator impacting all of our processes?

The answer is yes: there are people making decisions.


Could It Be Decision-Making? Are you assuming that your people will always make accurate perceptions and decisions about the future?

Psychologists tell us this assumption is not valid.

This invalid assumption is foundational across all of our processes.

Therefore, it can be an unseen factor in our processes, projects, and products.

But there are some actions you can take to address this unseen factor.


What You Can Do About It1. Acknowledge that your perception and decision making processes can be a foundational flaw

in your projects and products.

2. Train your decision-makers on the human thinking process, decision-making process, and the potential flaws in them. (This can be done in a half-day workshop).

3. Start to integrate that knowledge into your high-risk decision points in the existing processes.

4. Commit to making perception and decision-making improvement part of your ongoing corporate culture.


Contact Me If I Can Help I am an experienced financial services executive and consultant who has successfully researched, analyzed, and solved high-profile business problems involving products, projects, processes, and client/vendor engagements for technology companies, banks, and the Federal Reserve.

For more information about “The Perception and Decision Making Workshop”, a free white paper on this subject, or other consulting services contact me via email at [email protected] or by telephone at 972-625-3432.

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelharrisf4l

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelharrisf4l





The Unseen Force Impacting Your Projects and ProductsAND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT

Leadership & Management

The Unseen Factor Impacting Your Projects and Products - and What You Can Do About It