The Infrastructure Podcast: Episode 17

Guest: Simon Kirby, Managing Partner, The Nichols Group

Engage minds early to drive project success

This podcast focuses on what can be done to help major infrastructure project teams actually deliver the outcomes that are promised – and specifically whether engaging minds early will drive project success .

As any casual observer of infrastructure will be aware, the track record of major project delivery is not good. In fact a new book by Oxford University professor Bent Flyvbjerg highlights that globally from his list of 16,000 projects in 136 countries over the last 30 years, just 8.5% met cost and schedule targets while just 0.5% satisfied all benefit goals.

OK, I haven’t audited his numbers, but they are, on the face of it, a pretty shocking set of findings – findings that seem to bear out and ring true if you consider the UK’s recent project outcomes from projects such as Crossrail, Jubilee Line Extension, West Coast Mainline upgrade, Hinkley Point – the list goes on. And there are of course many more examples of smaller infrastructure projects failing to deliver. 

So what is going wrong? Prof Flyvbjerg highlights many, many reasons from long durations causing scope and budget creep to failure to understand technology and a propensity towards ‘optimism bias’ urging professionals down the wrong paths.

But primarily his conclusion – and one shared by many others in the industry given the number of industry papers and report on the subject – is poor project initiation or failure in the commissioning stage as the wrong people are left to make the wrong decisions at the wrong moment.
So is that true? And if so how do we change it?
Well to find out, it is my pleasure to welcome Simon Kirby, managing partner at well-known and respected trouble shooting, project delivery consultancy The Nichols Group to the Infrastructure Podcast. Simon has a several decades of experience wrestling with the challenge of delivering major projects and programmes.

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