Project Success Means Knowing

Knowing the attributes and measures of the Five Immutable Principles of project success

• Knowing what Done looks like in units of measure meaningful to the decision makers
• Knowing what plans and schedules are needed to reach Done at the needed time, for the needed cost, with the needed technical and operational capabilities
• Knowing what resources are needed to produce these capabilities
• Knowing what impediments will be encountered along the way, and how those impediments will be handled, reduced, or avoided
• Knowing how to measure progress to plan, schedule, reduce impediments, and deliver the needed capabilities

This knowing means knowing in the presence of uncertainty to a degree of precision and accuracy needed to make decisions

I order to know the needed of precision and accuracy in the presence of uncertainty, we must start with estimating what is possible, estimating the attributes and measures of the needed outcomes of the work activities, that produce the capabilities for the needed cost and schedule.

• Estimating what done looks like in units of measure meaningful to the decision makers
• Estimating what plans and schedule will be needed to reach done
• Estimating what resource we will need to reach done
• Estimating what impediments will be encountered
• Estimating the progress to plan that will be needed to arrive at done

All of these knowables and the estimates of the work and the outcomes operate in the presence of uncertainty. When we operate in the presence of this uncertainty, estimating is needed for success. Without this estimating process, we have no data and resulting information to Know to the needed degree of precision and accuracy to make informed decisions. 

Without estimates, we'll be driving in the dark with the lights off

from Herding Cats