White Star's initiative to build its new Olympic-class ships can be described as a text book project. It started off very well in the initiation and planning phases: the project team had a very good understanding of the business and customer needs, a solid vision, a superlative business case, the right supplier partnerships, good stakeholder relationships, and a healthy balance of proven and emerging technologies. By the end of the design phase, however, decisions were made that compromised safety features. The architects assumed that the aggregated effect of the reduced safety features and advanced technologies would still protect the ships. By the end of the fitting-out phase, all key stakeholders believed that the ships could never founder. The belief in Titanic's invincibility grew through the sea trials and into the maiden voyage. Everyone-from the captain and crew to the 53 millionaires on board-believed this. Why else would the wealthy and powerful have filled the hold and safes with cars and riches, and come aboard on a potentially treacherous route? Fundamentally, they believed that man had conquered nature and there was little risk. This book reveals the project management blunders that doomed Titanic while it was still being built-mistakes that you can avoid repeating in your own projects. Filled with photos and copies of actual documents from the project, this book walks you through a case study in project management failure.
Winston Churchill is widely regarded as one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. But as he became Prime Minister in May 1940, in a period of calamitous change, what did he actually do? How did he transform his organization to turn his perilous situation around? Both Churchill in 1940 and business people today grapple with an unprecedented level of change adversely impacting their organizations at the enterprise, business unit, or project level. Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise is about how Churchill, under tremendous pressure, inspired his nation to continue a fight already considered lost. Not only did he have to stave off an imminent enemy invasion but he had to move the peacetime economy to one that could support a war. This meant focusing slender resources on the immediate threat, unifying a disparate economy, and directing its output into immediate military use. Within a very short time, Churchill had to transform his organization to the modern-day equivalent of an Adaptive Enterprise so that it could adapt to this unexpected situation. He did this using the emerging technologies of the day, and of course he had to get it right the first time and make the investments count. As he illustrates Churchill's journey to an Adaptive Enterprise, author Mark Kozak-Holland draws parallels between events in World War II and today's business challenges. An Adaptive Enterprise modifies the way an organization behaves -- primarily, in how it wrestles with change. Adaptive Enterprises rapidly react to business events in real-time, comparing them against various scenarios, and enact appropriate countermeasures to stay ahead of the competition and thrive. Through recent advances in emerging technology, large organizations can become more agile and mimic the characteristics of a small organization. Churchill created his Adaptive Enterprise in a very dire situation. Not only did the transformed organization work, but it surpassed all expectations and changed the course of history. This book will show you how he did it, and how you can do the same in your own organization.