How Project Management Drives Business Success or Failure

The triple constraints of scope, schedule, and cost provide a well-known framework that project managers and leaders rely on daily to manage projects. Regrettably, overreliance on this also quietly breeds opportunities to erode business success. When this business erosion occurs and accumulates over time, it deteriorates a company’s competitiveness to a point where it may die. It is therefore critical for company leadership and project managers alike to understand the pitfalls associated with strict adherence to the triple constraint, both for managing projects as well as defining project success, and instead, supplement those methods with timely and critical actions which are necessary to ensure vibrant and sustained success.¹

This paper, in particular, outlines several “traps” that look good on the surface but through which companies can squander resources by relying too heavily on scope, schedule, and cost levers to control projects and measure project outcomes. Examples cite public and apparent company successes and failures, including Blockbuster vs. Netflix, MySpace vs. Facebook, and others, to reinforce the cost of missteps. Proposed actions are suggested when a project manager feels their company and/or project is enabling a trap. Lastly, this paper also makes a case that beyond simply avoiding the pitfalls; project managers must employ improved risk management and prioritisation efforts in conjunction with newer project management methodologies to produce efficiency and generate sustained success. 

Introduction

Traditional methods and frameworks of modern project management, such as using the triple constraints of scope, schedule, and quality to man...