FIFO and Project Management Failure

In a conversation at lunch with my first client that is still a client, we started to talk about all of the ongoing projects in the company outside the scope of my delivery and what is keeping them for accomplishing them.

I discovered that my client falls into the classic seven-eigthers group that most companies become part of when they cannot complete even one project before the next idea and direction comes from the top.  Hence they only get 7/8 of the projects completed and then are surprised when there are still in the same position they were two years ago.  Their agility and ability to move forward is non-existent.

Ever been told to finish what you start?  FIFO is an accounting term for First-In-First-Out and if you apply that same principle to project management then every new good idea would see success because it would be placed at the bottom of the pile before it would be addressed.  A simple practice that if re-purposed would help companies maintain their agility in the market place.

I am proud to report that all projects managed by me as it pertains to building their sales engine have been completed on schedule and the client is currently experiencing an increase of 38% in revenues over the same period last year.