Over the past few weeks I have had a great experience with a project sponsor. This person had been working on developing a new software application for the past 2 years. He asked for help with making this a successful project.
My first question to him was simple. What do you see as success?
He looked at me and, with a smirk, said “You know, I’ve never really thought about the answer to that question.”.
You see, like many people excited about a product idea, he had seen the completion of building the software as the end. Through the experience of asking the right questions I was able to have him stop and think about some of the other aspects of success. These included who the target customer market was, what environment he was entering into, the legislative concerns he might need to be ready for (you might want to look further into PESTLE analysis if you are interested in this…or send me a PM and I can talk for hours!).
In doing so we determined that he needed to look at the legal implications of different markets and geographies. I am most certainly not a lawyer and won’t pretend that I can or should give legal advice.
The sponsor, after consulting with legal experts realised that the risks of operating in the market he would be entering into were quite significant. Far more than he had first considered. Far more than he was willing to pay to mitigate and manage. Far greater than the potential benefit of rushing a product to market.
So, as is rare in the project world, the sponsor made the decision not to proceed. In my view, a smart move when the entirety of the project environment was considered. 2 years of work doesn’t mean that the next 2 are guaranteed to be without problems!
You see, like in any industry, there are companies that would have advised this person to continue. Those less scrupulous companies may have offered the legal opinion without expertise, or even encouraged the sponsor to proceed. That way they could continue to have a “bum on a seat” drawing down advisory fees.
A good advisory doesn’t pretend to know when they don’t. They are clear on the value that they can provide for you as well as where the limits are on their skills and experience. A good advisor makes sure that you know when you need expert advice. A good advisor provides you with advice that is in your interest rather than theirs. A good advisor acts with respectful candour to give you the help you need, not just the help they think you’ll pay them for.
A good advisor has your back, and in this case, gets the first round of beers with the sponsor to celebrate the relief on their face that after 2 years they are clear on what to do next!
