Execution > Excuses: A Hard Lesson in Project Delivery

A peek behind the project delivery curtain will show you just how much administration is required before implementation even begins. I would argue it is one of the leading causes of missed deadlines, especially when it becomes a bottleneck.

At least, that was the case on this particular project.

What was originally scoped as a 2-month implementation window quickly became a 2-week scramble. The reason? Administrative delays.

But promises had already been made, and in the business world, broken promises come with consequences: reputational damage, financial penalties, even litigation.

The deadline was hard. Immovable.

And this was no ordinary software deployment.

It was mission-critical. As in:

If it doesn’t work, nothing else will.

You can already guess, the client was not amused by the time crunch we had just presented to them. Rightfully so.

But time was now of the essence. There was no room to quarrel over who was to blame. We had to act.

I do not know if it is a cultural thing, but I will forever be grateful for the roll-up-your-sleeves attitude my now Dutch hermano in arms brought to the table.

We became the dynamic duo you call in when you need clutch points to win a championship.

What needed to be configured was being configured.

What needed to be tested was being tested.

The work rate was high, we were in full execution mode.

Even burned some midnight oil along the way.

The game had been rigged, through no fault of our own (definitely not the delivery team’s, that much was clear).

But it was still our responsibility to deliver what had been promised.

Sometimes, you do not get to choose the playing cards you are dealt.

But you still have to play the game.

We made it across the finish line, making tweaks on GO-LIVE day.

Operations went on.

Crisis was averted.

The key takeaway for me?

Execution over excuses.

We took accountability for the outcome, even if the inputs were out of our control.