Lunch Atop a Skyscraper
A Pseudo-Zen Story
Every day at noon, Al, Bob, and Chuck were sitting there together on the high-up beam.
Each would open his lunchbox, and they would chew and blabber in the sky.
One day they sat there, as usual, opening their lunchboxes.
“Spaghetti? Again?” muttered Al.
“Every day—the same: Spaghetti, spaghetti…” (sigh)
“If I find such spaghetti in my lunchbox again—I swear, I’ll jump off this bar!”“Salad? Again?” muttered Bob.
“Every day—the same salad…” (murmur)
“If I find such … salad … in my lunchbox again—I swear, I’ll jump off this bar!”“Salami sandwich? C’mon…!” grumbled Chuck.
“Every day—the same: Salami sandwich, salami …” (puff)
“If I find a salami sandwich in my lunchbox again—I swear, I’ll jump off this bar!”
The next day, they sit there together again.
“Spaghetti! Again!” exclaimed Al, and jumped off the bar.
“Salad. Again,” whined Bob, and jumped off the bar.
“Salami sandwich‽” choked Chuck, and he jumped off the bar.
The day after, the three weeping widows met at the cemetery.
“I had no idea!” sobbed Al’s wife.
”I was confident he liked spaghetti…my spaghetti…” (sniff)
”Had I known he didn’t like it—I could have prepared something else…!”“I don’t understand this at all…!” grieved Bob’s wife.
”His mother always said he just loves salads… I made him her salads…” (snort)
”Had I known he didn’t like it—I could have prepared something else…!”“I really don’t get it…,” said Chuck’s wife, rolling her eyes… (slight cough)
”He used to prepare his own lunchbox every day…”
Reflecting on the above grave story, project management failures also fall (😉) into three groups:
Communication issues lead to many failures, and many “excuses” stem from them.
Often, it boils down to a lack of communication—failing to speak up, express one’s mind, or reflect on current status.
Failed cooperation and collaboration create expectation gaps, lower motivation, and exacerbate employee burnout, ultimately harming both internal and external trust.Organizational issues and stagnant processes are also prominent factors in failure.
If an organization does not observe its performance and adapt to change, decision-making processes lag (or cease entirely).
Furthermore, management support dwindles in the absence of clear, strategic goals, leading to wasted resources.Professional and methodological issues are among the most frustrating root causes.
Project managers are often led to failure by the poor selection of a methodology, the false pretense of following one[s], or a lack of proper success metrics.
These issues are further compounded by making decisions in the absence of [or against] actual/factual data, disregarding feedback, poor scoping, and a lack of risk management.
It can be so different… [Image source]
After all…we, ourselves, prepare our own lunchboxes [=projects]…don’t we…‽