Comments on: Assessing and being held responsible for the cost of bad decisions http://blog.tmorris.net/assessing-and-being-held-responsible-for-the-cost-of-bad-decisions/ The weblog of Tony Morris Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:39:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Ivo http://blog.tmorris.net/assessing-and-being-held-responsible-for-the-cost-of-bad-decisions/#comment-34661 Ivo Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:28:01 +0000 http://blog.tmorris.net/?p=589#comment-34661 Warn early and warn often, in writing. That way, When you are held accountable, you can point out exactly when you requested more information/clarification/had questions, when you reminded them of that, when you pointed out an answer was insufficient, when you argued against certain decisions, etc. If you need to take the job, either because your boss says so or because you need the money, that is the only way to document the process. An extremely positive side effect is that you stay in constant communication with the parties involved and they see what you are doing and why. They can never feign ignorance that involved company X was being uncooperative, that client-representative Y didn't provide clear answers, etc. Communication takes time, but it is well worth it, even if you are not going to need the records to be able to point out what went wrong. I've seen a former colleague of mine, that has gone solo, use this approach to great effect. Warn early and warn often, in writing.

That way, When you are held accountable, you can point out exactly when you requested more information/clarification/had questions, when you reminded them of that, when you pointed out an answer was insufficient, when you argued against certain decisions, etc. If you need to take the job, either because your boss says so or because you need the money, that is the only way to document the process. An extremely positive side effect is that you stay in constant communication with the parties involved and they see what you are doing and why. They can never feign ignorance that involved company X was being uncooperative, that client-representative Y didn’t provide clear answers, etc. Communication takes time, but it is well worth it, even if you are not going to need the records to be able to point out what went wrong.

I’ve seen a former colleague of mine, that has gone solo, use this approach to great effect.

]]> By: Jan http://blog.tmorris.net/assessing-and-being-held-responsible-for-the-cost-of-bad-decisions/#comment-34652 Jan Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:14:28 +0000 http://blog.tmorris.net/?p=589#comment-34652 Hi Tony, those cases are really unfortunate. I have been in such a situation a couple of times and in the end the only thing helped was a) good documentation on the course of the project (and who made which decisions at which point) and b) to escalate the problems with bad desisions early to the project management (and document that). If you're the last in a chain it's always difficult to prove that you knew the problems all the time and you just tried to comply. Better act early and risk trouble during the project than taking the full blow in the end. Best regards, --- Jan. Hi Tony,
those cases are really unfortunate. I have been in such a situation a couple of times and in the end the only thing helped was a) good documentation on the course of the project (and who made which decisions at which point) and b) to escalate the problems with bad desisions early to the project management (and document that).
If you’re the last in a chain it’s always difficult to prove that you knew the problems all the time and you just tried to comply. Better act early and risk trouble during the project than taking the full blow in the end.
Best regards, — Jan.

]]> By: Robert Smart http://blog.tmorris.net/assessing-and-being-held-responsible-for-the-cost-of-bad-decisions/#comment-34650 Robert Smart Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:17:51 +0000 http://blog.tmorris.net/?p=589#comment-34650 Hi Tony, I always enjoy all your comments on a wide range of matters. I can't answer this question but I'm interested in learning about consulting since I might try to do a bit (in the simpler realm of jQuery-JSON-AppEngine development). I used to work in a research organization (though by the time I'd joined they'd changed the spelling to organisation). We had various groups with useful skills and we tried to raise money on the side by consulting. Our clients would look at our research groups and almost invariably say: "Artificial Intelligence: that's what we need". They assumed that this would be able to solve their problem, even though they couldn't describe what their problem was... Hi Tony, I always enjoy all your comments on a wide range of matters. I can’t answer this question but I’m interested in learning about consulting since I might try to do a bit (in the simpler realm of jQuery-JSON-AppEngine development). I used to work in a research organization (though by the time I’d joined they’d changed the spelling to organisation). We had various groups with useful skills and we tried to raise money on the side by consulting. Our clients would look at our research groups and almost invariably say: “Artificial Intelligence: that’s what we need”. They assumed that this would be able to solve their problem, even though they couldn’t describe what their problem was…

]]> By: trav http://blog.tmorris.net/assessing-and-being-held-responsible-for-the-cost-of-bad-decisions/#comment-34649 trav Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:10:50 +0000 http://blog.tmorris.net/?p=589#comment-34649 If your project is failing you're going to suffer a loss of face, it's unavoidable. When you say "accept responsibility for this failure" do you mean there is not going to be a post morteim examination to determine what could have been done better? I'm relatively inexperienced so I haven't had to be the 'head guy' on a failed project yet, but if I was head guy on a project that failed, regardless of who's fault it was, I'd want to figure out if there's any way that it could have been made a success. Given your above statements that the intermediary was incapable of making correct decisions (or enough of them) then was it possible / will it be possible in future to have someone else make the decisions? Is it possible to have a successful project while ignoring their decisions? If the answer to those two questions is no, then it would imply that it's simply not possible for a project undertaken under those circumstances to be successful, in which case everyone who took part is equally responsible in my opinion, but more importantly, you've learned something and can hopefully avoid entering into such doomed propositions in the future. If your project is failing you’re going to suffer a loss of face, it’s unavoidable.

When you say “accept responsibility for this failure” do you mean there is not going to be a post morteim examination to determine what could have been done better?

I’m relatively inexperienced so I haven’t had to be the ‘head guy’ on a failed project yet, but if I was head guy on a project that failed, regardless of who’s fault it was, I’d want to figure out if there’s any way that it could have been made a success.

Given your above statements that the intermediary was incapable of making correct decisions (or enough of them) then was it possible / will it be possible in future to have someone else make the decisions?
Is it possible to have a successful project while ignoring their decisions?

If the answer to those two questions is no, then it would imply that it’s simply not possible for a project undertaken under those circumstances to be successful, in which case everyone who took part is equally responsible in my opinion, but more importantly, you’ve learned something and can hopefully avoid entering into such doomed propositions in the future.

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