We often help organisations move successfully from the execution of small projects into the execution of larger, more complex projects. This transformation is often accompanied by an ambition to rise into the first-tier of the market. Beyond the improvements in systems and processes, a psychological hurdle often also needs to be overcome: the Challenger Syndrome. In our new White Paper 2019-02 ‘How to Overcome the Challenger Syndrome for Upcoming Project-Driven Market Leaders’ we detail what this syndrome covers and how to overcome it, with a particular focus on project-driven businesses.
Smaller upcoming companies are challengers: they take pride in executing special projects and finding custom solutions, in addition to maintaining a particularly close client relationship as they strive to please their client in all details. Their adaptability, reactivity, low overheads and inventiveness are often a key selling point, enabling them to grow in the interstices left by larger competitors. It is the foundation of their success.
As those companies grow to the point of competing with market-leading competitors on larger projects, they tend to try to maintain the same adaptability and closeness to client wishes while at the same time being competitive on price and delivery time. They avoid developing and implementing standard systems and processes that are needed to control large projects, even if they are available, because they feel they are too heavy and incompatible with their traditional business approach.
It is amazing how trying to achieve success in the execution of large complex projects with the wrong mindset can lead to utter failure, even if basic and necessary systems, processes and knowledge are available.
Customisation and adaptability do not scale. At some stage, as it becomes closer to market leadership, the fast-growing challenger company must dramatically change the foundation of its success. Implementing the best-in-class processes, systems and knowledge in an organisation without a mindset shift will lead to failure. A well-thought cultural transformation programme must be implemented at the right time. The effort and time required should not be underestimated; such transformation must be anticipated before very large and complex projects, or portfolios of projects requiring standard approaches, are taken up by the organisation. Read our new White Paper 2019-02 ‘How to Overcome the Challenger Syndrome for Upcoming Project-Driven Market Leaders’ to understand better the Challenger Syndrome and its effects.
If you can’t access the link to the white paper, copy and paste the following link in your browser: http://www.projectvaluedelivery.com/_library/2019-02_Overcome_Challenger_Syndrome_v0.pdf
