September 2018 // 2-minute read
A few weeks ago, I attended a session to exchange views on project management challenges and good practices in the hydropower sector.
When discussing one of the case studies, the presenter said he took on a project where the client said “I want you to design a solution. This is where I want to implement it”. So that was it – no cost, no schedule, no quality parameters. The client just pointed out the site and asked the project manager to deliver the proposal in a few months.
At first glance, this can be perceived as a great opportunity – working on a project where you have been given so much free rein in its deliverables, right? Quite the contrary according to the presenter:
“I had such a hard time to understand and define the project’s basic assumptions that I’m confident that I did NOT get the best possible outcome for the client.”
As I was hearing the discussion and jotting down some notes, I remembered a quote from former IDEO and current Expa VP Sina Mossayeb. The context was discussing ways to develop innovation within organisations:
We usually see constraints as limitations. Sometimes even as boundaries that run counter to innovation.
However, these restrainers can create clarity. For example, take the GDPR – arguably the most meaningful change in data privacy regulation in 20 years. Companies around the world had a single main constraint – the fact that it started being enforced beginning 25 May 2018. Meaning: “the other variables are negotiable as long as we are compliant from 25 May 2018”. They set a clear objective, and the other project considerations were flexible as long as they met the key requirement – the deadline.
In the discussion above, say my colleague’s client clearly outlined what they wanted the main project outcome to be. The result? A more targeted and optimised deliverable.
Budget or time constraints are often seen as restrictions to project delivery. However, they can be used to fuel another round of iteration of your idea and take the result even further.
Clarity of purpose enables people to design the right constraints that create conditions to create and achieve better results.
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