Some projects just won’t die. These vampires suck the resources, creative energy, and eventually the integrity out of the organization.

When everyone sees that the project will not succeed, but the boss won’t kill it, far more is lost than just the cost of the project.

Protecting project vampires is much more corrosive to the organization than killing them off too soon; customer rejection of a variation in the marketplace means that the boss can no longer hide a personal bias that keeps the vampire alive.

While feeding the vampires appears to be the opposite of killing them too soon, the root cause is the same—prejudgment.

Just as we “know” that some variations cannot possibly work, we also “know” that a few specific variations just have to work. In both situations we have substituted our own personal opinion, or prejudice, in the place of test results with customers.

Why do we do it?

What are the mental and emotional processes that cause us to continue feeding vampires?

First, there is persistence, that two-edged virtue that causes so much trouble. By feeding a vampire are we being persistent or just plain stubborn.

An old joke asks, “What is the difference between persistence and stubbornness? Come back in ten years to find out.”  But possibly more apropos is Einstein’s definition of insanity—doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

If you keep working the same variation hoping for a different verdict from customers, then it’s time to pull out the silver stake and drive it through the heart of this vampire project. Your team will be surprised and even a little bit impressed.

But perhaps your business instincts are leading you in the right direction. Evolution has a recommendation here—try a few more variations.

When evolution converted a fin into a hand and fingers, it did not know how many fingers were optimal, or even if there was an optimal number for fingers. Evolution has experimented with two fingers, then three, four, five, six, and even seven. The opposable thumb has worked for some species, but not for others.

Finally evolution settled on five fingers for most mammals, but it still uses one or two fingers (hoof or cloven hoof) for other mammals.

So…

• Create a number of variations on the vampire variation.
• Ask the development team working on the vampire. They may have a number of recommendations for changes, based on their direct experience with it.
• Ask the customers who have seen it. What did they like or not like? What would they recommend to improve it? What one feature did they hate?  Why did they stop using it?

Any variation has a number of function points, just like the bolt we discussed earlier. With your development team, review the function list one by one. For each function point, create ten possible variations. Most will not work, but remember not to kill off them too soon.

Use the lessons of evolution to create variations on the vampire variation. That’s persistence.

A second reason to keep a vampire alive may be resource issues. It may be generating resources in a peculiar way. The vampire may be the source or reason for funding by a customer. The vampire may be the project that keeps a highly talented team or individual at your organization. Or you may believe that you cannot afford to kill this vampire because your boss/customer/company will leave/quit/fire you if you kill the vampire. Whatever the reason, identify it directly.

Demonstrate to your boss/customer/ organization/team that the customers have thoroughly rejected the vampire as it exists today.  Outline your plan to create new variations and your plans to test them in the marketplace. The evolutionary process will eventually lead you to success.

Finally, you may have some very personal reasons for keeping the vampire alive. Your own success/promotion/growth/bonus may need this vampire to succeed. In this situation, first recognize your own needs to yourself, if not to anyone else.

Then return to the evolutionary model of creating variations. Somewhere in the mix of new, unlikely variations, the customers will find a few that they like, often using them in novel ways that you did not imagine.

Checkup for Killing Vampires

• What is the difference between persistence and stubbornness? Which are you?
• Why do you think the vampire will succeed?
• What variations have you tried on the vampire?
• Who wants the vampire to stay alive? Why?
• Who wants the vampire dead? Why?
• How can you create many more variations on the vampire?
• What is the personal cost to you for feeding the vampire?
• What is the personal cost to you for killing the vampire?

You may have noticed that this post was not particularly helpful in dealing with personality quirks—personal or organizational—that keep the vampires alive. I am not a psychologist, and do not pretend to offer psychological advice. My blunt advice, taken directly from the lessons of evolution, is: “Grow up. Get over it. Shoot the vampires. Move on.”

Socrates was a little gentler with his dictum, “Know thyself.” Miki says it differently, “Know your MAP and know that you can modify/change it at will.”

Your career/customers/team/organization/boss is more important than any single variation. You are valuable specifically for your ability to create and deliver variations. Kill the vampire! Create one hundred more variations to nurture and test.

Next time:  We will begin to explore selection. How does evolution use the environment to select the fittest variations? What exactly is evolutionary fitness?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under Innovation, Richard Barrett. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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