Survey on why projects fail

[Guest_imported]

I have been trying to look for surveys or empirical studies on major reasons why projects fail. Results and rankings of the top 10 reasons would be ideal. Does anyone know a good resource?

 

[Guest_imported]

Check out ... this gives you failure rates, reasons why and other info.

http://www.standishgroup.com/sample_research/chaos_1994_1.php

 

[Guest_imported]

Very insightful. Thanks for the lead. Other resources would be much appreciated.

BTW, I am six months into a project that I predict is doomed to fail within the next six months. As I suspected, 7 of the top 10 failure factors from this report exist. Almost all originate from a lack Executive Sponsorship and support, resulting from their lack of understanding of the PM process. The project is in good shape financially, but of course, if you don't have Sr. mgt involvement, you don't have access to quality user input or cooperation of any organizational resources. Open communications with mgt has been for naught and the project is in a holding pattern waiting for divine intervention.

Does anyone have any sea stories about a doomed project and what you did or didn't do? Success and failure stories are both welcomed.

 

[mtarrani]

There is a book, Smart Business, that goes into deep detail about project failures and offers some viable solutions. See

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1890009946/ref=nosim/miketarraslifecy/

for ordering ... I am just finishing it and think it's one of the best I've read on the subject. Better, it isn't priced in the stratosphere - it's in the ~$25.00 range.

 

[Guest_imported]

Most places you look will give you reasons with percentages. A key item is to be able to demonstrate that if one keeps doing the same thing over and over, the results will be the same. If you do not change the input, the outcome will always be the same. If you do not have a committed sponsor, the project will fail (success being defined as a quality product being delivered on time and within budget). I'd suggest you take a look at 'Anti Patterns, Refactoring Software, Architectures, and Projects in Crisis', by William J. Brown et all, ISBN 0471197130. The book outlines several patterns of activity that lead to project failure and methods to correct the issues. You must get your team, from top to bottom, to recognize the difference between participation and commitment, e.g. in a breakfast of ham and eggs the chicken is participating and the pig is committed.