Ah, November… time of elections…

Promises… and of course… rush to solve problems untouched during 3 or 4 years.

This time, it was January.

2022.

India.

A politician inaugurated a bridge.

Just before the elections.

Beautiful ceremony.

Speeches.

Cameras.

Smiles.

Although… as usual in pre-election times… there was one minor inconvenience.

The bridge wasn't finished.

The approaches… the same.

But the ribbon?

Ohh… my friend.

Perfectly red.

Perfectly cut.

A steering committee to choose the perfect provider…

An another to choose the picture area.

It’s what I call: the project achieving Political Completion.

A milestone not recognised by any construction contract I've ever read.

Although some Change Notices to make it possible has brought great benefits to the private side… paid by all taxpayers, but the way.

Anyway… this milestone has become increasingly popular.

Don’t’ laugh at India, look around.

We do exactly the same thing in infrastructure.

Everywhere.

We call a project substantially complete while the defects list requires its own project manager.

We celebrate financial close as if someone had actually built something.

We announce successful delivery while the contractor is preparing a claim large enough to finance a small country.

And my local favourite:

We declare operational readiness when the operator is still asking where the keys are.

Wonderful.

Everyone gets a photograph.

The Minister gets a speech.

The CEO gets a LinkedIn post.

The Board gets a presentation with seventeen green traffic lights.

And the poor bastard who has to operate the asset gets the problems.

The ceremony lasts an hour.

The consequences last twenty-five years.

Welcome to the business!

And you know what is worse…

That in any project:

Someone knew the bridge wasn't ready.

Someone knew what was missing.

Someone probably raised it in a meeting.

And someone else probably said:

"Let's not be negative. We need to focus on the bigger picture."

Of course.

If you need to walk into difficult meetings, challenge uncomfortable decisions, and say what needs to be said.

Enter The Room

Because cutting a ribbon is easy.

Knowing when not to cut it?

That's leadership.

​The Room​

PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day.

PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com

PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below.