Beyond the Tactics: When Business Value is the Real Need, a "Successful" Project Is Not Enough.
- Shlomi Ozalvo
- Oct 16
- 4 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Imagine you arrive for a flight and are welcomed with a smile, and the boarding process is quick and seamless. During the flight, you receive excellent service and food; the cabin crew and pilot are highly attentive, and the flight is smooth with zero turbulence. Perfection, until landing—when you realize you've arrived at the wrong destination! 🤯
Most organizations excel at project management. They have skilled project managers, powerful software tools, and well-defined processes for planning, scheduling, and tracking tasks. They are excellent at the "how" of executing a project—the tactical part.
But if you are a business leader, you have likely encountered the inherent problem with this approach. Despite significant investment and long working hours, some projects designated as "successful" on paper (delivered on time and within budget) still failed the ultimate test and did not significantly advance the business.
Why does this happen?
Because modern project management is a paradox. On one hand, it has never been more efficient, especially now with AI tools. On the other hand, the gap between project delivery and the creation of real business value has never been wider.
The Problem with Focusing Solely on Project Execution
In many organizations, project teams are given a mandate and a budget, and are simply sent "on their way." The focus remains on the mechanisms:
Task Management: Breaking down the work into individual to-do lists.
Schedule Adherence: Meeting deadlines and milestones.
Budget Control: Keeping expenditures within the allocated budget.
While these are important metrics, they create an illusion of success. A project can check off all these boxes and still fail if it is not aligned with a clear strategic objective. Think of it as painting a beautiful, detailed mural on a ship that is already sinking. The work is technically "completed," but it is irrelevant to the ship's fate.
Today, this problem is more urgent than ever. The continuous and accelerating change driven by technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) requires companies to ensure that every project serves a clear strategic purpose that contributes to the company's long-term vision.
The Missing Link: A Project Delivery Strategy
The biggest challenge lies not in a shortage of tools or effort, but in a lack of strategic direction. This is the difference between Project Execution and Project Delivery Strategy.
Project Execution is the tactic of how to complete a single project.
Project Delivery Strategy is the art and science of selecting the right projects, aligning them with business goals, and ensuring they deliver tangible, measurable value to your customers and organization.
An effective delivery strategy provides the framework for answering critical questions before the work even begins:
Does this project support our company's top strategic priorities?
Are we allocating our most valuable resources to the most important work?
The Solution: A Function to Navigate Project Delivery by Business Value
To bridge the gap between execution and value, organizations need to adopt a Strategic Project Delivery approach.
Here are three key steps to implement this approach:
1. Define a Strategic Project Portfolio Management Function
The first step is to define a dedicated function (an individual or team) that centralizes the link between projects and the organization's strategic vision. Such a function, often called a PMO, is not just an administrative role, but a strategic one responsible for:
Setting Priorities: Filtering project requests and ensuring every new project aligns with strategic objectives.
Resource Coordination: Allocating expensive resources (personnel, budget) to the most critical projects.
Removing Barriers: Assisting project teams in overcoming challenges related to long-term goals.
2. Develop a Methodology That Integrates Strategy and Execution
For a strategy to move beyond theory, you must develop a working methodology that integrates the strategic vision into the day-to-day management of the project:
Continuous Communication: Hold regular meetings between the project team and the strategic team to ensure the project remains on the right trajectory.
Mid-Process Review: Conduct periodic evaluations throughout the project life cycle to ensure the results being generated still align with the initially defined strategic goals.
3. Measure Success by Business Value, Not Just Classic Metrics
We must redefine what success means. Alongside the classic metrics of schedule and budget, we must focus on measures that show the project's real impact on the organization.
Shift from "Output" to "Outcome": Instead of measuring whether a task was completed on time, measure its result. For example, instead of confirming the system was launched, check if it actually saved 15% in costs.
Define Strategic KPIs: Every project must be linked to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that directly contribute to the organization's business objectives. This way, the impact of each project on growth, profitability, and customer satisfaction can be proven.
Learning and Adaptation: Use these measurements to learn what worked and what didn't, and to improve processes for future projects.
Conclusion
The shift from merely executing projects to managing a Project Delivery Strategy is essential. Much like a naval commander who navigates by a sea chart and not just the compass, business leadership needs to steer projects by a clear strategy that ensures every effort truly serves the organization's goals.
