{"id":1339,"date":"2008-10-26T23:36:41","date_gmt":"2008-10-27T06:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/2008\/10\/26\/stuck-in-space-and-time\/"},"modified":"2019-08-07T14:33:27","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T21:33:27","slug":"stuck-in-space-and-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=1339","title":{"rendered":"Stuck in Space and Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, in anticipation of Halloween, I asked several of my project management friends to give me their PM Horror Stories.\u00a0 Of course the names and faces have been masked to protect the innocent.\u00a0 But hold on to your Trick-or-Treat bags as there are some truly scary lessons to be learned as we move into: <\/p>\n

\"TwlightThe Project Management Twilight Zone<\/p>\n

Horror Story Number 1:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stuck in Space and Time<\/strong><\/p>\n

We were told “No one can solve this problem except you.”\u00a0 So we went after it.\u00a0 It was really big.\u00a0 In fact some would say ‘astronomical.’\u00a0 Our team was big too: nearly 80 people involved worldwide.\u00a0 And somewhere among us was the answer to the problem.\u00a0
\nWe were charged with changing the design to prevent an accident from occurring again.\u00a0 Of course time was of the essence, and we had to perform the investigation and develop the solution ASAP.\u00a0
\nSo it was agreed, the team would convene every day for 2 hours until the problem was solved.
\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Horror:<\/strong> How long did it take?\u00a0 Not until after nearly 3 months did we finally focus on the true root cause of the problem!\u00a0 I guess sometimes that’s what it takes.\u00a0 Bringing all the experts together across multiple time zones until the solution presents itself.\u00a0 And sometimes the budget and schedule must suffer!
\n\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scary Lessons: <\/strong>\u00a0This chilling tale leads me to conclude the following:<\/p>\n