Building a Cathedral on Sand

I work for many clients on many projects for many years. Once I was engaged to do a project rescue. I asked an IT supplier to justify their bills or evidence for the work invoiced.

The reply from their CEO was “Don’t try building a Cathedral on Sand”. Their argument was that governance and paperwork was bureaucracy and not a good foundation for their solution.

I thought this was a brilliant title for a book, and told them so. Below are the headings for each Chapter. Do you think I should write the book?

1. We need something
2. Poor specification
3. Big promises
4. Loose contract
5. Weak Management
6. Vague deliverables
7. T&M but no deliverables
8. Inaccurate Reporting
9. Escalating invoices
10. Product Problems
11. Management Issues
12. Better tomorrow
13. A bit more time…and cash
14. Emperor’s New Clothes, or Boy who cried wolf
15. Brought to account
16. Recriminations
17. Reprisals

It’s an interesting admission: That your product is “a Cathedral on Sand”.

Anyone else had a similar experience?