While there are many studies which reveal the success and failure rate of many project like the one’s listed below:
In a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, they review 10,640 projects from 200 companies in 30 countries and across various industries, and found that only 2.5% of the companies successfully completed 100% of their projects.
A study published in the Harvard Business Review, analyzed 1,471 IT projects, found that the average overrun was 27%, but one in six projects had an average cost overrun of 200% and a schedule overrun of almost 70%.
It also doesn’t take long to see that there hasn’t been much change in the results over the years despite the efforts attempted to improve the results. Maybe you have experienced similar, persistent project problems.
From the infamous Standish Report of 1994:
The Standish Group research shows a staggering 31.1% of projects will be canceled before the ever get completed. Further results indicate 52.7% of projects will cost 189% of their original estimates. The lost opportunity costs are not measurable, but could easily be in the trillions of dollars.
In June of 2012, a Gartner survey revealed:
In analyzing the collective responses of some 150 participants in the 2011 Gartner five-country survey, the failure rate of IT projects with budgets exceeding $1 million was found to be almost 50% higher than for projects with budgets below $350,000.
From the Project Management Institute Pulse Report:
In 2012, the Pulse research reported dollars lost for that year as US$120M for every US$1B spent on projects. In 2013, that amount was US$135M for every US$1B. Dollars lost is the product of the average percentage of projects not meeting goals multiplied by the average percentage of a project’s budget that is lost if the project fails. Year-to-year variance is caused by changes seen in either, or both, of these two metrics.
From the International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 8, No. 2, April 2017 shows it’s not an isolated case:
Construction projects around the world have a very poor performance record with respect to being completed within cost, time and quality objectives. Morris considers cost overrun as a “regular feature” for public projects. Causes and factors related to cost overrun in construction projects have been traced worldwide and in specific contexts, e.g., the USA, Nigeria, Indonesia, the UK, Ghana, Kuwait, Philippines and Thailand, Pakistan, Gaza Strip, South Korea, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, Netherlands, Turkey, Israel, Uganda, and Saudi Arabia.
I’m going to assume many of these projects were lead by professionals or folks who have a lot of experience; at least, enough experience to be assigned to these projects my their manager.
If these folks can produce these kind of results, what chance does everyone else who manages a project have?