Point Lookout: a free weekly publication of Chaco Canyon Consulting
Volume 23, Issue 18;   May 3, 2023: Personal Feasibility Decisions

Personal Feasibility Decisions

by

When considering whether to exploit a rare but desirable opportunity, there is a risk that desire can overcome good sense. Having at hand a predefined framework for making such decisions reduces the risk of blundering by acting in haste.
A red molded plastic zipper

A red molded plastic zipper. In busy organizations, scheduling projects is much like zippering a jacket closed. Schedules interlock. If even one zipper tooth moves out of place, the zipper won't zip. Even though you might find a way to make your project fit the crowded organizational schedule today, it's risky if the fit is too tight, because schedules change.

When we're offered opportunities to take on new projects, prudence requires that we ensure the feasibility of taking them on. Because considering these offers sometimes occurs under time pressure or political pressure, it's useful to have at hand a framework for pondering such decisions. This post proposes a "personal feasibility" decision framework. It's a good start, but you probably would alter what's here or add dimensions to make it a good fit for you.

Market
If the opportunity entails delivering something of value to someone who will use it, ensure that you understand that user's needs, wants, and alternatives.
Needs and wants are rarely identical. As compared to needs, it's usually easier to communicate with the user about wants, and more difficult to satisfy them. Alternatives are important because your offering competes with the alternatives. Ideally, you'll be offering to meet a previously unidentified want that's truly needed, and for which there are only inferior alternatives. No opportunity is ideal in this market dimension, but it's good to know how to recognize one when it comes along.
Capacity
Your own personal resources, or the anticipated resources the effort would need, must be available during the time period when they would be needed.
Consider any personal commitments or organizational efforts that would compete with this opportunity for time and attention. If you discover conflicting opportunities or commitments, try to rearrange things. A small schedule change can sometimes resolve the conflict. If you're unable to resolve the conflict, undertaking the opportunity could be a risky move.
Capability
Both the As compared to needs, it's usually easier
to communicate with the user about
wants, and more difficult to satisfy them
organization and you, personally, should already have — or should be able to acquire — all the knowledge, talent, or equipment required to exploit this opportunity successfully.
If you can identify capability gaps, consider what might be needed to close them. Rank them in severity, realistically. Search carefully for deal-breakers. In your search, beware cognitive biases, especially if the opportunity is rare and desirable.
Compatibility
The current array of resources, knowledge, talent, and equipment must be compatible with the needed resources, knowledge, talent, or equipment.
If somehow you were to acquire all that's needed, those acquisitions would need to be compatible with whatever you now have. For example, if you're permitted to hire the people you need, would you have the budget required to cover the cost of additional software licenses? Would IT be willing and able to support the new software tools?
Risk
Ensure that the probability of success is high enough, and foreseeable risks have been mitigated or can be mitigated.
Investigate the risks associated with the opportunity. If undertaking this effort alters the risk profiles of other efforts, either underway or anticipated, verify that the alterations are acceptable. Risk, in this sense, includes risks associated with organizational politics.

Last words

Finally, consider organizational politics. The foundational concept of the effort needs to be compatible with accepted beliefs about the organization's mission and the roles of the people who would be doing the work. Assure yourself that any political obstacles that remain have plausible resolutions. Go to top Top  Next issue: On Schedule Conflicts  Next Issue

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However perceptive we become about what can anger us, we still do get angry once in a while. Here are four steps to help you deal with your own anger.
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When we express our ideas, we can usually choose between a positive construction and a negative one. We can advocate for one path, or against another. Even though these choices have nearly identical literal meanings, positive constructions are safer in tense situations.
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In project work, we often make decisions with incomplete information. Sometimes we narrow the options to a few, examine their strengths and risks, and make a choice. In our deliberations, some advocates use a technique called the Straw Man fallacy. It threatens the soundness of the decision, and its use is very common.
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High-touch jobs require that we work closely with colleagues, teammates, clients, or suppliers. Because choosing to leave such a job affects all these people, and the person departing, we would do well find a path that respects all involved. Here are some suggestions. Available here and by RSS on August 13.
Charles Goodhart delivers the keynote speech in the 2012 Long Finance Spring ConferenceAnd on August 20: Earned Value and Goodhart's Law
Earned Value Management, widely used approach to project management, is most useful in contexts in which estimators are familiar with the Tasks, the Technologies, and the Teams. But even then, it is vulnerable to the tactics of those who game the metrics. Available here and by RSS on August 20.

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