False Summits: I

Projects are so notorious for overrunning their budgets and schedules that we all know what we mean by, "the second 90% of the work." Just as we feel like we're closing in on the goal, new tasks appear — things we overlooked, or things we were just clueless about. We can learn about how to deal with this by examining an experience from mountaineering — the false summit.

Some mountains are notorious for having false summits. One encounters a false summit when the contour of the terrain is such that what appears from below to be the summit is actually just a protruding ridge or shoulder that obstructs the view of the real summit — if you're lucky. If you're unlucky, the false summit merely obstructs your view of the next false summit. Either way, ascending further, it becomes clear what has happened, because there is more mountain above than first appeared.

Recognizing that the "summit" wasn't the summit can be discouraging. In physically trying situations, which are common in mountaineering, the added psychological stress and disappointment can actually threaten safety.

At work, the analog of encountering a false summit is the discovery that completing the project requires far more effort and time than we thought. After several such revelations, discouragement is common. The credibility of leaders becomes an issue, and that makes management more difficult. Failure looms.

Here are some tips for avoiding false summits in projects.

Have a good map

A map of the terrain is essential for planning your course up a mountain. The higher the peak, or the rougher the terrain, the more useful is a map. Still, things change. Maps aren't perfect.

In projects, In project work, we tend not to
employ advance reconnaissance
as often as we mightwe must often make plans based on experience with other efforts, because we've never done what we're now attempting. That experience can be misleading, but it's the best we can do. Use plans with care.

Reconnaissance helps

In climbing, the more you know about the route, the more likely is success. At times, we send someone ahead to gather data that helps us determine the best course forward.

In project work, we tend not to employ advance reconnaissance as often as we might, because we tend to view as wasteful any activity that doesn't directly contribute to deliverables. Send someone ahead to reconnoiter. Focus groups, piloting, and prototypes are usually helpful.

Use locator technologies

Maps are helpful even if you know your location only approximately, but knowing exactly where you are makes maps even more useful. Locator technologies do help.

In project work, there is no equivalent of a GPS locator. But we can often benefit from periodically re-estimating the work remaining to be done, using the insight we've acquired from the work done so far.

We'll continue next time by exploring the psychology of the experience of false summits.  Next in this series  Top    Next Issue

Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Project Management:

Start a Project Nursery

In a Project Nursery, professionals from across the entire organization collaborate to conceive of new projects. When all organizational elements help decide which projects to investigate, the menu they develop best suits organizational needs and capabilities.

Risk Management Risk: I

Risk Management Risk is the risk that a particular risk management plan is deficient. It's often overlooked, and therefore often unmitigated. We can reduce this risk by applying some simple procedures.

Ego Depletion and Priority Setting

Setting priorities for tasks is tricky when we find the tasks unappealing, because we have limited energy for self-control. Here are some strategies for limiting these effects on priority setting.

Seven Planning Pitfalls: II

Plans are well known for working out differently from what we intended. Sometimes, the unintended outcome is due to external factors over which the planning team has little control. Two examples are priming effects and widely held but inapplicable beliefs.

Lessons Not Learned: II

The planning fallacy is a cognitive bias that causes us to underestimate the cost and effort involved in projects large and small. Efforts to limit its effects are more effective when they're guided by interactions with other cognitive biases.

See also Project Management and Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming May 15: Should I Write or Should I Call?

After we recognize the need to contact a colleague or colleagues to work out a way to move forward, we next must decide how to make contact. Phone? Videoconference? Text message? There are some simple criteria that can help with such decisions. Available here and by RSS on May 15.

And on May 22: Rescheduling Collaborative Work

Rescheduling is what we do when the schedule we have now is so desperately unachievable that we must let go of it because when we look at it we can no longer decide whether to laugh or cry. The fear is that the new schedule might come to the same end. Available here and by RSS on May 22.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrendPtoGuFOkTSMQOzxner@ChacEgGqaylUnkmwIkkwoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info