(2006-08-23) Mann Pushing Through Finish Line

Howard Mann on the failure of most groups to get the benefit of their work. We are thinking about the finish line in the wrong place and confuse getting things done with what needs to happen to make sure we enjoy the results we need them to deliver. From my own experiences, and what I witness with clients, the problem arises from very little Planning about what comes right after done. What would happen if you mapped out, from the start of every initiative or Pro Ject, 5 more steps that needed to be done beyond the obvious finish line? I Commented there. At first I was thinking that this contradicted an Iterative mentality, but then I realized that the true point is that many managers generate half-baked initiatives, and don't want to put the resources or Commitment to actual messy execution. So they treat a first step as a finish line, and then jump onto the next thing. Depending on the size/structure of the organization, I'm not sure you need to plan the details of those later steps in advance, as long as you acknowledge that those steps need to happen, and happen right away, after that non-finish line. Maybe this is a problem with the whole Pro Ject mentality, because it has the risk of making you concentrate on completing the task plan, regardless of Out Come. (Perhaps similar to the Whole Product challenge.)