It seems like some projects are just destined to fail. No matter what we try — add more budget, assign more people, call more meetings, work longer days — it's simply impossible to steer these troubled projects down the right path. Why? In my experience, the root cause is something that we frequently discount: strong leadership.

Less is More

Ironically, projects always seem to fail for variety good reasons: biting off more than can be chewed, not enough time to execute, incorrect prioritization of business goals, and so on.

Despite their unique origins, failing projects share one thing in common: they all need someone to take action quickly. I’ve seen Microsoft teams grow from ten to hundreds of people, when putting the right people in charge would have solved the problem just as well. Vista vs. Windows 7 is a classic example.

The Elephant in the Room

If you privately ask a person to explain why his or her team's project is failing, most of them will tell you exactly why (and most of the time they will be right!). But, get those same people in a room to discuss and solve the problem, and the reasons they pinpointed earlier all collectively morph into a big, fat elephant in the room. Maybe the reason for this is optimism bias setting in. Or, maybe people find it difficult to step into a room and say, “Well, this project is failing because of X”, where “X” is one of numerous very harsh options like, “bad leadership”, “a terrible designer”, “an arrogant developer”, and so on.

Whatever the case may be, what’s really needed is one individual who has the ability and accountability to truly course correct.

The Wisdom of Crowds

It may seem like I’m advocating for a dictatorship or thoroughly discarding the wisdom of James Surowiecki’s insightful book. I’m not. To the contrary, diversity, independence of opinion and decentralization are key to innovation and success.

Still, when you’re running a business or even a team at a corporation, there’s no substitute for an experienced driver with a good internal compass. You have to be prepared to make sharp turns constantly and quickly. That’s where strong and direct leadership come in.

Decision by consensus is a theoretical luxury that most of us will never experience in the real world. Good leaders either drive or find someone trustworthy to take the wheel.

Decision by consensus is a theoretical luxury that most of us will never experience in the real world. Good leaders either drive or find someone trustworthy to take the wheel.

A Final Word

I've worked on both terrible and fantastic teams. There’s usually a stark contrast between the environments created by both at almost every level: employee morale, speed of innovation, individual performance, trust among team members, and much more. Needless to say, all of these suck on a terrible team. Unfortunately, our tendency as humans is to solve these “symptoms” where the root cause may be the incompetent guy or gal who’s making the big bucks. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you’ll take control of your professional destiny.

What have you learned about dysfunctional work environments? Share your thoughts in the comments or send us a message on twitter.