Re: Critical Chain Project Management Disadvantages

Posted by Glenn Black, PQA on November 04, 2002 at 18:28:27:

In Reply to: Critical Chain Project Management Disadvantages posted by Sandeep Talluri on November 04, 2002 at 18:26:56:

There are only disadvantage of CCPM:

"Half-hearted" conversion

Control of Change

Paying for the training & implementation of CCPM, and failing to have the commitment,
perseverence, and self-discipline to complete the transformation is deadly.

This is worse than not implementing CCPM in the first place; as it builds false
expectations, and spends more money than the "do nothing" alternative.

The results of a half-implemented CCPM program with little or no self-discipline are not
significantly better than POCP (Plain Old Critical Path). Higher costs with few gains
spells disaster.

Secondly, it gives CCPM a bad name when people try to save face, saying, "Yea, we
tried it, but it didn't work.". This makes it difficult to achieve buy-in when you're really
serious (or desperate) to make CCPM work. It also makes it tough for another
organization to sell it to their Sr. management and workers (ie. "My brother's company
tried it. It looked good at first, but died a dismal failure").

Thirdly, change is harder than "steady as she goes". It takes energy to change speed or
direction. You have to support the people and the systems during this critical period. You
have to cross this chasm at maximum speed and minimum risk; or you could fall into this
chasm. That is where a facilitator is worth his weight in gold.

Any consultant worth their salt ensures that all necessary resources to make CCPM a
success are already in place (including commitment) before pushing the CCPM start
button. Then they ensure that momentum is kept to a maximum. The light at the end of
the tunnel must be kept burning bright 24 hrs a day so people don't lose their way and give
up.

So CCPM takes some planning. CCPM also has some minimum requirements before
starting; get them or don't start.

Glenn

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