The Ford Taurus is one of the best selling cars in Ford’s history. It was loved by customers and over two million of its first-generation model were sold. The Taurus was a success, launched to a fanfare, with numerous performance, design, safety, and reliability awards to its name.
Yet when the original five-year project was completed, the project manager was sacked because it was late by three months.
Next, was the second-generation redesign. But now, the new project manager had learned the lesson of his predecessor. So with project schedule as the most important criteria, team spirit diminished, vendor relationships suffered, and ultimately customers were left disappointed, “What did people ever see in this car in the first place?”
It might not be about being quicker (or cheaper). It’s difficult to define ‘better’. But undoubtedly, the strong drive behind every successful project is the illogical pursuit of becoming transformative.