A train fails its final test.

Normally, you fix the train.

In Ottawa, they found another option.

They changed the test.

Just as Margaret Thatcher when she didn’t like her unemployment numbers…

The context.

In 2019, the city’s new light rail system was approaching opening day.

The final trial was supposed to show it could run reliably before passengers got on board.

The first three days exposed serious problems.

Testing was paused.

This is the point where a sensible person says:

“Perhaps we should find out why.”

But opening day was getting closer… and you know that tendency of politicians to get high using scissors…

The pressure was growing.

So the public and the private returned to an earlier, less demanding set of testing criteria.

I love it…

And full disclosure… I’ve done it too!

Let’s go back to the story.

Under those criteria, the system of course passed.

A pass looks wonderful in a meeting.

One word.

Green box.

Applause.

Next slide.

The very small problem in this case was that the councillors responsible for oversight were not told that the initial testing had repeatedly failed.

Or that the trial had been paused and restarted.

Or that the criteria had been lowered.

Why letting reality to jeopardize a great opening…

A subsequent public inquiry found that they had been deliberately misled.

Or course, after the railway opened, passengers experienced repeated failures and disruptions.

Now, the lesson isn’t “never change a test”.

As I told you… this is really useful… with common sense.

Also, there can be good reasons to revisit a requirement.

The lesson is to notice what is happening in the meeting where everyone agrees to change it.

Are we correcting a requirement that makes no sense?

Or are we making the problem look smaller because the deadline is getting closer?

Those two conversations can sound remarkably similar.

Especially when someone says, “We’re being pragmatic.”

That sentence has probably done more damage to infrastructure projects than an uninsurable event.

If you lead, attend or report on PPP meetings, you need to recognise these moments while you can still do something about them.

That’s why I created The TOP 10 Errors During Meetings That Kill Your PPP Deal.

Watch it before your next meeting.

Because a green box on a slide cannot carry passengers.

Link below.

Use this information at your own risk.

THE ROOM: The TOP 10 Errors During Meetings That Kill Your PPP Deal

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