Mudassir Iqbal

How to fail Eloquently Change is inevitable. The same can be said for failure, which is part and parcel of professional life. Failure is tough  to handle and tougher to talk about, but an unfortunate reality. “Learn from your failure!” is what we usually hear, but it’s easier said than done. But take my word for it—it will come with a little effort and practice. Here, I want to discuss not why projects fail, but how we as project managers should react in the face of failure. Defining Failure “Failure” is one of those words that is rarely understood. It means different things to different people. My understanding keeps changing. Today when I fail, I clinically analyze the level of failure using a variety of parameters that I learned during my career on different jobs. Failure has a wide range of possibilities when it comes to a project, and it changes through various phases (of both your career and your projects). It reminds me of when I complained to my first manager that...

An argument that I have with myself daily on the job is whether I am a project manager or a business analyst. Should I advise on the solution, or should I stay in the PM lane and let the solution architect and the business side deal with it? Many of us project managers have transitioned to this position via a business or system analysis path, so I, therefore, believe that we’re the best to judge this unique relationship in terms of the roles that both should play. Let’s take a closer look. With the growth of business evaluation, we have all observed a certain tension in the leadership of ventures. Years ago, the business analyst—along with the project manager—was just another team member. Today, business assessment has become even more crucial to success; the project manager and business analyst must operate closely together. How does that work in practice? At times, not so well. That’s not surprising considering the varying perspectives of these two roles. Project managers are o...