Change projects vs maintain projects 

A project can mean a lot of things. But in my world of data and software, I like to distinguish between maintain project and change projects. 

Change projects start with the assumption that things as they are don’t work. We can’t spend 3 weeks to close the books. We NEED better numbers. We keep hiring more people and getting nowhere.  Something has to give. 

Maintain projects are generally a case of “if we could stay this way, we would forever”. But the software isn’t supported or your auditors want this change. 

Most consultants assume that any given project is an opportunity for change. You’re doing something new. You’re spending money. Don’t you want to do things the best way possible? 

And my answer is – maybe yes, maybe no. Because change is hard. And if the status quo works, than you probably don’t want to invest the added effort to improve things. You really just want to do the least possible to get what you need. 

And this is OK. Because change is hard. And you should only invest in change when you really need to.