Published
In last week’s blog we reflected in the value of questions in project assurance and we invited people on LinkedIn to share their own personal ‘killer questions’ to use as definitive sense checks for a project or programme
The response was wonderful so here are the killer questions that people shared, to which I have added some commentary of my own.
Why (are we doing this)? Professor Bent Flyvbjerg
Why is perhaps the most ubiquitous and most important of killer questions. One that can be used to encourage people to share their logic, their values and or their vision behind a given project. It’s such a powerful question that there are several techniques for problem-solving and root cause analysis that have been developed using this simple, three-letter word, for example: the Five Whys Technique.
What are you trying to achieve? Sarah Coleman
Whereas Bent’s question concentrates the mind on the original ‘project problem question’ and the vision at the start, Sarah’s shift the focus to the end-state; the output or even the outcome. It’s an extraordinarily powerful technique; one that has been brought to life in construction with techniques such as BIM but one that has equal value for business change projects.
Why is our project actually needed? Matthew Henry
Matthew’s question has echoes of Bent’s, ‘Why’ but also, to my mind, is best used in conjunction with another question: ‘Who is it for?’ The purpose of both questions is to encourage you to think about your end-users and is a great way of taking the steam out of vanity projects. If the response to get to Matthew’s question is framed exclusively in terms of ‘I’ or ‘We’ rather than ‘You’ or ‘They’, you may have got your answer (that it isn’t)!
Do you know how many projects you are running just now? (Do you know how many you really have?) Adrian Pyne
Adrian’s question is aimed at the jugular of any C-suite executive and is a great one for PMOs to kick-off with. It reflects the fact that many organizations suffer from their own particular version of ‘optimism’ bias, perhaps best expressed as ‘the mistaken belief that time, cash and resources are far more elastic than they actually are’.
If it were your own money would you invest in the business case? Peter Shirley
There’s nothing quite like Peter’s question for bringing people down to earth with a bump and reminding Sponsors and others that (a) projects are investments that are designed to deliver value; (b) when thinking about risk, you need to engage people’s emotions (and yes, even their fears) as well as their intellect and (c) personal skin in the game is a powerful way of encouraging decision-makers to own their projects.
What’s the problem your are trying to solve? Stephen Jenner
A variation of Matthew Henry’s question but one that goes to the heart of project initiation: the problem statement. Complex projects offer multiple, alternative routes and options to achieve a successful outcome. The one thing that helps bind all of them together and provides a benchmark for decision-makers is an authoritative, comprehensible and concise project statement, one that can show its evidence and workings. Answering Stephen’s question may well require you ask and answer all the other questions in this list first.
Is there anything I haven’t asked you, that I should have? Mike Clayton
I often use Mike’s question during the interviews for our Masterclass programme or our Lessons from our Archive. It reflects the fact that the reason why you are asking someone these questions in the first place is because they have an understanding of the project that goes far beyond your own; either in terms of perspectives or technical detail. As a responder, you can rhetorical techniques to respond to this question, even if you haven’t been asked it. For example, ‘If I were sponsoring this programme, I’d want to know …’
So What …? Al Simmonite
Al’s question is another one of those super-brief questions that have so many uses. Decisions, projects and programmes all have consequences and implications. Some of these are intended and others unintended and you need to articulate both. Sometimes ‘so what?’ can help identify a project without a genuine business case and at other times it can focus on how a given decision or a given project may close down future options, which is important in a world where we trying to balance the need to deliver with the need to remain agile in the face of change.
What does success look like after the project (or program) is done? Ian Sharpe
Ian’s question is a great one to engage stakeholder imagination but it really comes into its own when applied to business change or digital transformation projects where the sheer abstract nature of the outcome needs to be defined and universally shared in a language that everyone understands. Elmar Kutsch’s three minute Ideas from Experience video from 2019 suggests some tools for helping to answer Ian’s question.
What pees you off most about how things are done around here, which, if resolved would make a big difference? Roger Martin
Assuming confidentiality is assured and you’re trusted, answers to this question reveal what’s taking up people’s thinking time and draining their emotional energy. If several people independently raise the same issue, you have a good handle on where to begin any change initiative. Solve for what’s resonating most negatively and you build confidence and momentum to tackle other issues. Tapping the wisdom of the shop floor is a very powerful way of engaging motivation and of identifying hidden project risks. We’ve known this for a long time when it applies to safety conversations in the workplace but it’s a most powerful question for checking the health of any project.
What are the current open issues from the last audit and what’s the forecast date to attain closure of these issues? Richard Renshaw
Richard provides a useful reminder of the ‘lessons identified’ versus ‘lessons learned’ conundrum and the danger of taking the time to identify assurance issues but then failing to follow through and fix them. He also kindly reminded us of the NAO’s helpful ‘Framework to Review Programmes’ in his LinkedIn response.
How do you know?/How do I know? Pamela Stacey
Pamela offers a powerful reflective question which is useful for inviting people to provide their evidence, to review the thinking process that lead to their decision, and to check out any unconscious bias. It’s also a useful prompt in the event that you have gaps in your metrics for success.
Is what you are doing with all others, safe? George Stowell
George’s a one of those questions that needs a simple binary answer. Yes – fine go ahead. No – what do we need to do to make it safe?
Do you think that, or do you know it? Jeff Quantrill
There’s nothing wrong with informed opinion; nothing at all. But as Jeff’s question highlights, you do need to know what is opinion and what is evidence-based so that you can make a judgement on risk and the margins for error and uncertainty.
How much time will it take? How much will it cost? What risks are included? What controls do you favor? What are the residual risks you can live with? Alfred Moergeli
Let’s not take the basic baseline questions for granted either. Alfred’s questions remind us that these are useful for eliciting basic data but also for offering insight into the attitudes and perspectives of the people you are working with? Are they natural cautious or even risk averse or, alternatively, might they be optimistic or even risk seeking?
Rudyard Kipling’s Six Honest Serving Men. Nirav Talati
Another great, starter toolset, check them out.
What, if anything, keeps you awake at night? Anthony Buchanan
Anthony’s question is simple, empathetic and very effective. Using a question like this shows you understand the challenge and stresses of a particular project. The kind of things that keep you awake at night are also often half-formed fears, that may be difficult to articulate and are very hard to document on paper. But that doesn’t make them any less real or any less dangerous for the project.
What if we are wrong? Seth Roy
The perfect killer question on which to end the list because it’s exactly the final question to use before you make a decision or before you push the button on a project. The question allows you to reflect on options for mitigating unwanted consequences. It also helps you focus on the critical path and on your key success factors. Some things just aren’t mission critical and so you can be right or wrong without derailing the project. It’s the things that are key to success that you need to focus on. This question also prompts us to be humble. No one is infallible. Projects are uncertain activities. It’s good to remind yourself of that fact to ensure you give due weight to critical voices but also that you recognise that failure is fine if it provides a learning step to success.
Jonathan Norman