Lucas' Laws of Project Management

A project's goal rarely has anything to do with implementing a list of features. It is usually about solving a problem for users, the business, or both. The original specification is a guess about what will solve that problem. It is almost certainly wrong, and it will change as the team learns more about the problem and the solution, as explained in Law 2. Considering that the original specification is likely wrong, the only way to materially influence the outcome of a project is to understand the problem it is trying to solve so that you can adapt the solution as you uncover more information. If the team does not understand the problem, it cannot change the solution without risking failure. **Recommendation:** Make sure the team understands the problem before it starts working on the solution. Keep the problem in mind as the work progresses, and be willing to change the solution when new information is discovered. A project's initial scope is based on what the team knows _before_ it…