Frequently, the absence of a comprehensive view, the disregard for a project’s full scope, the neglect of relevant theoretical principles, and the denial of a project’s inherent complexity are primary factors leading to project failure, or at the very least, causing delays and cost overruns.

Beyond a certain level of complexity in a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) project, the software solution alone does not guarantee the overall coherence of the implementation.

This means that, while a software solution is a crucial part of a PLM project, it isn’t the sole factor ensuring a successful, consistent implementation. Especially in complex projects, other factors like strategic planning, process design, change management, data integrity, and user acceptance play a critical role.

My vision:
Be conceptual during the analysis – Be pragmatic during the solution design.

  1. Be conceptual during the analysis:
    During the initial stages of the project, the goal is to grasp the big picture and understand the problem space in a comprehensive manner. This involves understanding the organization’s needs, requirements, pain points, and objectives, along with how the proposed PLM solution might fit into the current system and process landscape. At this stage, it’s important to think conceptually – which means considering abstract ideas and theories. You should not only focus on what is currently happening but also envision potential future scenarios, dependencies, and impacts. This could involve mapping out complex process flows, performing gap analyses, or constructing conceptual data models. The idea is to formulate a strategic understanding of the project scope with the ad-hoc level of detail ensuring the accuracy, consistency and scalability of the future solution.
  2. Be pragmatic during the solution design:
    Once the conceptual understanding and analysis phase is complete, the project moves into solution design. At this point, it’s crucial to shift the mindset from theoretical to pragmatic – focusing on practical applications and concrete solutions. Pragmatic design means coming up with solutions that work effectively in the real world, taking into account constraints such as resources, timeline, technology limitations, and user acceptance. Rather than seeking the ‘perfect’ solution, the focus is on finding a ‘good enough’ solution that meets the business needs, can be implemented within constraints, and delivers tangible value. This includes designing workflows, data models, interfaces, and other details of the PLM system in a way that they are not only theoretically sound, but also usable, efficient, and feasible to implement. This might involve making compromises and balancing trade-offs to ensure the project’s success. In such a case, compromises are made consciously, but without sacrificing scalability and the holistic view of the solution.

In conclusion, it’s all about having the right mindset at the right stage – being conceptual during the analysis to capture the broad vision and being pragmatic during the design to ensure the delivery of a feasible, effective, and efficient PLM solution.