Comments on: Projects, Products, and Finishing http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/12/projects-products-and-finishing.html Management, especially good management, is hard to do. This blog is for people who want to think about how they manage people, projects, and risk. Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:31:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Chris Hedgate http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/12/projects-products-and-finishing.html/comment-page-1#comment-30723 Chris Hedgate Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:52:27 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=8561#comment-30723 Although I did write that with a small part of humor, I guess what I am getting at is the question of what is a project and what does it mean for it to be completed/done. My understanding of what it means for a project to be done is that there is no more funding for it. However, as opposed to killing a project, you do not throw away what you were working on, you put it to use. You decide that what you have now is good enough, and the cost of continuing working on it is higher than the value you would get. So you do something else. In the story you tell, the VP had some idea of what he wanted to do, before his spouse intervened and he decided to release on Thursday. The project was done, which to me sounds like the intervention made him abandon whatever did not make it into that release. Although I did write that with a small part of humor, I guess what I am getting at is the question of what is a project and what does it mean for it to be completed/done.

My understanding of what it means for a project to be done is that there is no more funding for it. However, as opposed to killing a project, you do not throw away what you were working on, you put it to use. You decide that what you have now is good enough, and the cost of continuing working on it is higher than the value you would get. So you do something else.

In the story you tell, the VP had some idea of what he wanted to do, before his spouse intervened and he decided to release on Thursday. The project was done, which to me sounds like the intervention made him abandon whatever did not make it into that release.

]]> By: Dwayne Phillips http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/12/projects-products-and-finishing.html/comment-page-1#comment-30632 Dwayne Phillips Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:54:26 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=8561#comment-30632 Bravo. Good distinction between aspects of projects and products. I find that much of our headaches at work stem from vague language. Bravo. Good distinction between aspects of projects and products. I find that much of our headaches at work stem from vague language.

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