The story goes…
The program – has lofty goals for transforming the way to do business, to catch up with challenger businesses (have not kept up with customer expectations).
The first few projects – identified and added to the project portfolio plan for the year.
As for the rest – there is no budget (only planning for the year), or no appetite (the sponsor may not be around next year).
The very first project – it must respond to the immediate problem (after all that’s how the program got the buy-in).
It must do that quickly – 1 month – therefore looking for a tactical solution (calling it MVP to make it sound less desperate).
The chosen technology/product must be future-proof and fit the strategic direction (cannot justify spend on throw away).
6 months later…
- Why isn’t the first project complete? It was supposed to be quick.
- Where is the value add from using this technology/product? It is supposed to be the strategic choice for all projects to come.
What has just happened?…
If tactical is aligned with strategic, it would not be called tactical, it would be called strategic.
The strategic choice product/technology may not be able to demonstrate value add for the entire program in a tactical (also the first) project.
The same features and functions for building strategic capabilities rarely, if ever, meet the criteria and constraints of legacy in a tactical build.