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The question is, given the nature of the public sector, could we expect them to do any better in future? Well, yes—but it will always be a struggle.
In any project, there are a few key principles that if neglected will surely bring project failure.
The first is to bear in mind the triangle of time, cost and performance—the project must be delivered to meet objectives in each of these areas.
These need to be fixed at the start of the project, and if they change, then the consequences must be understood and managed.
These objectives are all difficult to fix in the first place.
Time is hard, as to a large extent people in the public sector are not very driven by time (with the obvious exception of medical or other emergencies) - there is no pressure to get this product out of the door by Christmas, or before their competitor does, as there would be in the private sector.
Hence, there is no culture of being able to assess how long things will take, and estimates (public sector people being human after all) err on the optimistic side.
Performance — i.e. what the project is going to deliver, be that a new policy, process or IT system—is very often the key criteria to be met: we have seen the downsides of hastily introduced policies (dangerous dogs, anyone?) and public sector projects have a very wide array of stakeholders who need input to the project—some of these actually do have expertise that must be taken into account, but some just need to be allowed to have their say.
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