A Complete Guide to the “F” Word — Project Failure

We know, we know… We just dropped the “F” bomb.

Unfortunately, as entrepreneurs, project leaders, project managers, and even team members and individual professionals, we occasionally deal with project failure.

There are many resources out there on how to avoid failure (which, of course, is always the preferred approach); however, the truth is that failure does happen. Project teams and leaders must recognize that project failure is incredibly common.

I’ll kick this article off with a brief story. Back in the day, when I worked in the “corporate” world at my full-time, 9-to-5 job as a project manager, we had processes for every phase and aspect of the projects we managed. The project phases ranged from editorial to production to manufacturing.

Occasionally, we would have a project that ended up with a manufacturing error or defect (the bookbinding was broken, the book was paperbound instead of hardbound, and so on). When these defects happened, no one ever knew what to do. Why? Because we had no process for dealing with defects.

As a senior project manager at the time, I suggested we update our training materials and documentation with a process on how to handle production and manufacturing defects. However, I received push-back from leadership. Their…