There’s an old project management expression:

“Fail to plan, plan to fail.”

In other words, you need to map out your project before you get going — or else you’re headed for disaster.

Which makes sense, after all: would you go on a family vacation without even knowing where you’re going?

But there’s a special category of “failing to plan” that I encountered a few years ago — one that still has me scratching my head.

Later’s Good, Right?

It was an internal systems and process project, with an original spend — and I stress original — of over $100 million.

They had set up a project management office, and they were determined to make this project a success.

They even agreed that it was super, duper important to plan everything out. And they couldn’t wait to show me their business plan that mapped out their objectives, their schedule, and their activities.

There was just one problem.

They were 18 months into the project — and they still hadn’t started planning.

What’s the Problem?

The disconnect still puzzles me.

Not only did they acknowledge the importance of planning, they insisted it was a top priority.

They even went so far as to push back when I raised it as a problem:

“We’re going to write it,” they said.

“By the time this project is done, there will be a business plan!”

It became clear they viewed the business plan as a check-the-box document — not a tool to actually help guide delivery.

To me, that’s “paper on the shelf.”

To them, it was “foundational.”

It just didn’t need to happen yet.

Planning vs. “Planning”

Now, I’m not someone who believes in documents for their own sake.

I’m not going to argue that every project needs a 100-page plan filled with best-practice fluff.

A plan isn’t something to be admired. It’s something to be used.

If it’s not practical, it’s not helpful.

The last thing any project needs is to waste precious time on checkbox activities just to make a compliance officer happy.

So no, I don’t highlight gaps out of context.

But if we go back to the point of a plan — to identify your objectives and map out how to get there — isn’t that kind of… essential?

Whether the plan is detailed or high-level, don’t you need to know where you’re going?

Plans will change. That’s expected.

But would anyone drive to work blindfolded?

And in a multi-year government project with routine turnover, is it really enough to “just know” what direction you’re headed?

It’s the same problem we see at the highest levels of government transformation — bold moves without a clear, deliverable roadmap.

So How Did It Turn Out?

Back to the question at hand: how did that project fare with its super-important-but-not-important-enough-to-write plan?

Did the team pull together in a heroic show of public service grit?

I think we all know the answer.

The project took twice as long as intended.

The budget increased by 250%.

And that was after a massive scope reduction.

Maybe it would’ve played out the same way with a plan.

Maybe it was just too complicated to deliver smoothly.

But maybe — just maybe — sometimes convention has a point.

Sometimes, when you fail to plan…

You really do plan to fail.

👇 Want to avoid being this story?

If you’re leading a complex public sector initiative — and want a fast, honest scan of how your project’s tracking — try the free Project Health Check. It takes five minutes, and it might catch the exact blind spots that tripped up this $100M failure.

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