Processes are only as good as those who create them. No. Wait. They're only as good as those who follow them. Err... Maybe they're only as good as those who have to enforce them? Hmmm... Maybe it's all three.

Of all of the projects I've worked, I'm not sure that I have been a part of one that had all of the pieces when deadlines hit. I can say that most of the projects in which I've been involved seemed to have been plotted by an hourglass rather than a starting line. Meaning, instead of the project starting off like,"If we start today, it will take 2 weeks to launch", it's more like,"Hey, we already sent out marketing that direct our customers to the new site next Monday, so we have 4 business day until we MUST launch." This is just an example, so I'm not saying that it's always Marketing's fault.

When everyone's working from the same pool of time, and the first people in the process take longer than projected, this shrinks the window to finish the project by that much for those working on the last pieces. This is perpetuated when there are no consequences for missed deadlines. Now, don't misunderstand. I'm not talking about punishment as a consequence. I'm saying that the timeline needs to be corrected or adjusted according to each deadline missed. This will allow each piece of the process it's original allotted amount of time. Yes. This means the project will not launch on it's designated launch date, and the delay will burn only those who didn't plan correctly in the beginning.

"Burn" seems like a harsh word, but I'm referring to the hot pot analogy. Sometimes, telling a child not to touch the hot pot isn't enough, but after that first touch, the child will probably be more cautious and probably won't touch it again . In my experience with the hourglass project, most start to point fingers and place blame as to why the deadlines aren't met. If the "consequence" of shifting the timeline and delaying the launch is put in place at the beginning, this will lead to better project planning with ample time for each piece.

Keep in mind, practice makes better, not perfect. And that should be okay.