Practicum: Premature Project Maturity Acceleration

You will encounter problems if you accelerate the development of a margin initiative too quickly.

A common error in the margin is to push forward too quickly. This is typically the result of an attempt to gain resources, recognition, or status before the time is right. For example, a manager may be under pressure to produce documented results or improve his or her status to achieve a promotion or raise. If your best efforts are under-the-radar, it can be challenging to get the recognition needed to progress your career.

One common premature acceleration point appears to be moving from the Idea Stage to the Ramp Up Stage without first doing a smaller scale test in the Test Stage. The Test Stage is a critical step where initial connections and relationships are built, successful practices developed, and the confidence of the team is bolstered. Leapfrogging this step requires either significant positional authority or large expenditures of political capital to secure the resource investments and team commitments needed to expand operations in a completely untested field. Implementing your first test of the business idea across multiple engagements or significant scope increases the risk of failure. Team members must learn their roles in a high pressure situation. If insufficient resources are acquired, everyone will be stretched too thin.

A second common premature acceleration point is between the Test or Ramp Up Stages and Inculcation. In this case, the manager is seeking to legitimize and integrate an initiative into the corporate structure before the participants fully understand what makes it successful. One result may be that the corporate machine incorporates the activity quickly, but without the lessons learned and best practices. The inefficiencies yet to be worked out are codified and effectiveness remains sub-optimal. The entire effort is deemed too costly to maintain.

A steady approach to maturing initiatives in the margin allows essential processes to take place. Skipping steps is costly.