Thenartnofnprojectnlea
dership:nDeliveringnthe
nworld’snlargestnproje
cts
McKinseyn Capitaln Projectsn &n Infrastructuren Practicen Septembern 2017
RetailnFebruaryn201
4
,
,Thenartnofnprojectnlea
dership:nDeliveringnthe
nworld’snlargestnproje
cts
McKinseyn Capitaln Projectsn &n Infrastructuren Practice
Septembern2017
, Preface
Thenperformancenofnlargencapitalnprojectsnhasnbeennhistoricallynpoornandnpronentono
verrunsndespitenextensivenresearch,nliterature,nandnpractice.nPreviousnworknhasnanaly
sednwhynthesenprojectsnhavendeviatednfromnplan,nandnmanynrootncausesnhavenbeenni
dentified,nlargelynaroundnthenissuesnrelatedntonsystems,nprocess,nandntechnicalnmaste
ry.nHowever,nwenbelievena
criticalnelementnfornsuccessfulnlargenprojectndeliverynhasnsonfarnbeennneglected:nspe
cificallynthen“soft”nissuesnofnprojectndeliverynsuchnasnleadership,norganisationalncult
ure,nmindsets,nattitudes,nandnbehavioursnofnprojectnowners,nleaders,nandnteams.nIn
nthisnreportnwenrefer
tonthisnblendnofnsoftnorganisationalntopicsnasn“thenartnofnprojectnleadership”,nasnoppo
sedntonstandards,nsystems,nprocesses,nandntechnicalnsubjectnmatternexpertisenwhichn
wenreferntonasnprojectnmanagementn“science”.
Wenassertnthatnanbetternunderstandingnofnhowntongetnthisnartnrightnwillnmateriallynim
provendeliverynofnlargencapitalnprojects,nandnmoreover,nthatnitnisnespeciallyntrueninnthe
ncontextnofnthenlargestnandnmostncomplexncapitalnprojectsn(thosenwithnbudgetsnexcee
dingnUSn$5nbillion).
Wensetnoutntonanswernansimplenquestion:nWhyndonsonmanynlargenprojectsncontinuento
nfallnshortnofnexpectationsndespitensonmuchnglobalnexperience,nlearning,ndiscussion,n
andnanalysis?
Tonanswernthisnquestionnwenresearchednthenexistingnliteraturenonnthentopicnandnco
nductednin-
depthninterviewsnwithn27nlargenprojectnpractitioners,nwhoncollectivelynhavenmorent
hann500nyearsnofnprojectndeliverynexperience.
Ournresearchnkeptncomingnbackntontopicsnincludedninnthenartnofnprojectnleadership;
nthatnis,nthenorganisationalnandnleadershipnaspects—
capabilities,nmindsets,npractices,nattitudesnandnbehaviours—
requiredntondelivernthenlargestnandnmostncomplexnprojects.nThroughnourninterviews
nwenhavenfoundnthatnthenartnofnprojectnleadershipngainsngreaternimportancenwithni
ncreasingnprojectnsizenandncomplexity.nInnthisnreport,nwendistilnournfindingsntonfourn
mindsetsnandneightnleadershipnpracticesnacrossnprojectnsetupnandndeliverynphasesn
thatnarencritical
tonsuccess.nWendiscussnthesenfindings,nandnprovidenactionablenadvicentoncapitalnprojectnpr
actitionersnandnthosenresponsiblenmorenbroadlynforncapitalnprojectndelivery.
Ournintendednaudiencenisnlargenprojectn“owners”n(companynCEOs,nchairs,ngovernmen
tnministers,nmilitarynleaders,nandnsonon)nasnwellnasnthenprojectnleadersnwhondesignnan
dnexecutenthenprojectsn(suchnasnprojectndirectorsnandnmanagers).nThesenpeople,nand
ntheirnteams,
facenanchallengingnundertaking:ndeliveringnanlargenprojectnnotnonlynrequiresnancomb
inationnofntechnicalnskillsnandnexperience,nbutnalsonstrongnmeasuresnofnmotivation,ni
nnovation,nandnleadership.nCreatingnandnmaintainingnthesensofternelementsnovernann
extendednperiodnisnthenartnrequiredntonleadnandndelivernonnthenworld’snlargestnproj
ectnchallenges.
ThisnresearchnwasnlednbynMikenEllis,nMcKinseynSeniornPartnernbasedninnSydney;nSe
rgeynAsvadurov,nMcKinseynPartnernbasedninnSydney;nTomnBrinded,nMcKinseynAssoci
atenPartnernbasedninnPerth;nDavidnKnox,nformernManagingnDirectornandnChiefnExec
II Thenartnofnprojectnleaders
hip
dership:nDeliveringnthe
nworld’snlargestnproje
cts
McKinseyn Capitaln Projectsn &n Infrastructuren Practicen Septembern 2017
RetailnFebruaryn201
4
,
,Thenartnofnprojectnlea
dership:nDeliveringnthe
nworld’snlargestnproje
cts
McKinseyn Capitaln Projectsn &n Infrastructuren Practice
Septembern2017
, Preface
Thenperformancenofnlargencapitalnprojectsnhasnbeennhistoricallynpoornandnpronentono
verrunsndespitenextensivenresearch,nliterature,nandnpractice.nPreviousnworknhasnanaly
sednwhynthesenprojectsnhavendeviatednfromnplan,nandnmanynrootncausesnhavenbeenni
dentified,nlargelynaroundnthenissuesnrelatedntonsystems,nprocess,nandntechnicalnmaste
ry.nHowever,nwenbelievena
criticalnelementnfornsuccessfulnlargenprojectndeliverynhasnsonfarnbeennneglected:nspe
cificallynthen“soft”nissuesnofnprojectndeliverynsuchnasnleadership,norganisationalncult
ure,nmindsets,nattitudes,nandnbehavioursnofnprojectnowners,nleaders,nandnteams.nIn
nthisnreportnwenrefer
tonthisnblendnofnsoftnorganisationalntopicsnasn“thenartnofnprojectnleadership”,nasnoppo
sedntonstandards,nsystems,nprocesses,nandntechnicalnsubjectnmatternexpertisenwhichn
wenreferntonasnprojectnmanagementn“science”.
Wenassertnthatnanbetternunderstandingnofnhowntongetnthisnartnrightnwillnmateriallynim
provendeliverynofnlargencapitalnprojects,nandnmoreover,nthatnitnisnespeciallyntrueninnthe
ncontextnofnthenlargestnandnmostncomplexncapitalnprojectsn(thosenwithnbudgetsnexcee
dingnUSn$5nbillion).
Wensetnoutntonanswernansimplenquestion:nWhyndonsonmanynlargenprojectsncontinuento
nfallnshortnofnexpectationsndespitensonmuchnglobalnexperience,nlearning,ndiscussion,n
andnanalysis?
Tonanswernthisnquestionnwenresearchednthenexistingnliteraturenonnthentopicnandnco
nductednin-
depthninterviewsnwithn27nlargenprojectnpractitioners,nwhoncollectivelynhavenmorent
hann500nyearsnofnprojectndeliverynexperience.
Ournresearchnkeptncomingnbackntontopicsnincludedninnthenartnofnprojectnleadership;
nthatnis,nthenorganisationalnandnleadershipnaspects—
capabilities,nmindsets,npractices,nattitudesnandnbehaviours—
requiredntondelivernthenlargestnandnmostncomplexnprojects.nThroughnourninterviews
nwenhavenfoundnthatnthenartnofnprojectnleadershipngainsngreaternimportancenwithni
ncreasingnprojectnsizenandncomplexity.nInnthisnreport,nwendistilnournfindingsntonfourn
mindsetsnandneightnleadershipnpracticesnacrossnprojectnsetupnandndeliverynphasesn
thatnarencritical
tonsuccess.nWendiscussnthesenfindings,nandnprovidenactionablenadvicentoncapitalnprojectnpr
actitionersnandnthosenresponsiblenmorenbroadlynforncapitalnprojectndelivery.
Ournintendednaudiencenisnlargenprojectn“owners”n(companynCEOs,nchairs,ngovernmen
tnministers,nmilitarynleaders,nandnsonon)nasnwellnasnthenprojectnleadersnwhondesignnan
dnexecutenthenprojectsn(suchnasnprojectndirectorsnandnmanagers).nThesenpeople,nand
ntheirnteams,
facenanchallengingnundertaking:ndeliveringnanlargenprojectnnotnonlynrequiresnancomb
inationnofntechnicalnskillsnandnexperience,nbutnalsonstrongnmeasuresnofnmotivation,ni
nnovation,nandnleadership.nCreatingnandnmaintainingnthesensofternelementsnovernann
extendednperiodnisnthenartnrequiredntonleadnandndelivernonnthenworld’snlargestnproj
ectnchallenges.
ThisnresearchnwasnlednbynMikenEllis,nMcKinseynSeniornPartnernbasedninnSydney;nSe
rgeynAsvadurov,nMcKinseynPartnernbasedninnSydney;nTomnBrinded,nMcKinseynAssoci
atenPartnernbasedninnPerth;nDavidnKnox,nformernManagingnDirectornandnChiefnExec
II Thenartnofnprojectnleaders
hip
