<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve had many conversations with executives over the years, trying to help them accept that their inability to deliver all of their approved projects isn\u2019t a problem of bad execution; it\u2019s bad planning\u2014approving more initiatives than they have the resources to deliver. But now, to go rogue, I say approve more work than you can possibly complete in any given business cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s changed? Well, change has changed.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nToday\u2019s world is highly dynamic and uncertain. Operating environments shift due to advancing technologies, changing customer expectations, the actions of competitors, suppliers, and regulators, and a thousand other factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nOrganizations must be able to adapt and adjust their strategies, goals, and investments to respond to and hopefully anticipate these changes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
To do that requires not just a willingness and capability to cancel or modify existing initiatives, but also the launch of other initiatives to take their place. And that\u2019s where the idea of approving more work than you can deliver comes in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organizations should develop a prioritized backlog of projects. These are initiatives that have been reviewed, costed, and approved but have not yet been given the green light to launch. Instead, they are ready to go as soon as resources\u2014people and financial\u2014are freed up from other areas of the portfolio due to the need for change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the best way to optimize enterprise agility\u2014the ability to respond quickly and with minimal disruption when necessary. It requires constantly reviewing and updating the backlog, but that\u2019s OK. Planning should be continuous and adaptive anyway, and this is merely an extension of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the same reason, allocate more funds than you actually have available. Don\u2019t spend it, but tie funding to the key initiatives in that prioritized backlog so that if you need to shift an investment into the delivery column, you already know how much it will cost, what the cash flow requirements look like, etc. That further speeds up performance, reducing time to value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n