One of the huge flaws in project management is attached to the “Hertz vs. Accenture disaster”.

This post could go as a joke, since Hertz is related to frequency… and feedback cycles are a great way to avoid project failure or avoid projects where nothing is delivered. 🫠

Cadence is not optional. Feedback cycles are not optional.

Let’s use a paper from 1970? Dr. Winston Royce in “Managing the development of large software systems” (IEEE WESCON, August 1970) delivers this one:

It is important to involve the customer in a formal way so that he has committed himself at earlier points before final delivery. To give the contractor free rein between requirement definition and operation is inviting trouble.
“Managing the development of large software systems”
IEEE WESCON, August 1970

We need to interact with real life and make sure we are connecting with users to understand where we are and define next steps related to value creation.

And looking at your software development process, understand different steps from discovery to delivery and real life experimentation. Which one is the most important deliverable now? Check the strategy, check your stakeholders and metrics related to customer needs. You will find answers there.

— Daniel Wildt

P.S.: There are lots of articles related to this project story from Hertz and Accenture, but I would start with this cio.com article.

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