親愛的安妮：有位有著變態幽默感的同事發給我一篇您的專欄文章，講的是怎樣從重大的、引人關注的失敗中走出來。因為我最近剛剛接手了一個項目，可公司里的同事都認為這個項目注定要失敗。事情是這樣的：過去九個月里，一個12人的團隊一直在嘗試推動內部能力建設，但到目前為止都沒有成功。如果我們成功，可以為公司節省大量資金，但實際情況的復雜程度超出了所有人的想象，各種問題和延遲令高層震怒。我的上司希望我能推翻之前的工作，重新組建一支團隊從頭再來，進而減少損失。

????然而，我認為事情仍然有挽回的可能，只要我們能停止相互指責，把精力用來作出一些關鍵的改變?？稍趹獙@種情況方面，我確實沒有太多經驗。我該如何拯救這個脫軌的項目？您和您的讀者能推薦一些實用的指導嗎？——G.H.F.

親愛的G.H.F.：首先，我要推薦一本值得一讀的好書《拯救問題項目——識別、預防、重啟失敗項目完全指導手冊》（Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure）。這本書的作者托德?C?威廉姆斯是俄勒岡州波特蘭市咨詢公司eCameron的負責人。他花了25年時間為《財富》美國500強公司（Fortune 500）提供咨詢服務，解決如何應對正在走向失敗、或已經失敗的項目。

????有時候他會建議徹底放棄，但并不總是如此。威廉姆斯說：“方向的決定很大程度上取決于公司在項目中陷入的程度，以及將項目帶回正軌最終能否彌補損失。而最主要的問題是策略。項目對公司的戰略目標有多重要？如果你們正在努力建設的能力至關重要，那么這個項目就有拯救的價值?！?/p>

????假如你所提到的節省成本潛力非常巨大，而且堅持做下去能在財務層面帶來積極意義，那么，請看威廉姆斯在下面給出的拯救這個項目的四個步驟：

????1. 停止相互指責。威廉姆斯說：“等到需要我介入的時候，相關項目往往都已經處于相互指責的階段。而實際上，任何失敗的主要責任都在高層管理者身上，因為他們沒能提供明確的方向，或者沒有對項目進行密切的監督，也可能兩者皆有。一旦我們指出問題所在，老板們會更愿意停止問責，而將精力轉移到尋找解決方案上”——這就需要進入下面的步驟2。

????2. 關注事實。威廉姆斯說：“真實數據是你當前最靠得住的朋友。深入挖掘每個階段的問題所在和原因?！睂ふ颐恳粋€失敗點的問題根源，“就像剝洋蔥一樣，需要抓住核心。比如，假設一個關鍵組成部分未能準時出現。原因何在？未來又該如何預防？”

????他補充說，重要的是，不要受到任何無法驗證的觀點或假設的影響。他說：“人們通常會說：‘你們在為項目進行審計時，從這里能發現問題?！覍@個問題的回答是：‘讓我先做審計，然后再說?！慨敵霈F問題的時候，人們總是傾向于迅速得出結論——而這本身往往便是一種麻煩?！???????

Dear Annie: A colleague with a twisted sense of humor sent me your recent column about bouncing back from a big, visible failure, because I've just been put in charge of a project that everyone here thinks is probably doomed. Here's what happened: A team of 12 has been trying for the past nine months or so to launch an internal capability that we have not had up to now. It would save us a ton of money if we can get it to work, but it has turned out to be more complicated than anyone expected, and senior management is so frustrated by the various problems and delays that my boss expects me to cut our losses by chucking the whole thing and starting over with a different team.

????However, it seems to me that this thing is fixable, if we can just stop all the finger-pointing and concentrate on making a few essential changes. But I don't really have much experience with this kind of situation. Can you or your readers recommend a good source of practical guidance on how to save a project that has gone off track? -- Glass Half Full

Dear G.H.F.: One place to start would be a highly readable book called Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure. Author Todd C. Williams, head of eCameron, a consulting firm based near Portland, Ore., has spent the past 25 years advising Fortune 500 companies on what to do about projects that are either headed for a cliff or have already gone over.

????Sometimes he recommends scrapping them, but not always. "Deciding whether to go forward depends partly on how much the company has already sunk into it, and whether getting the project back on track can eventually make up the losses," Williams says. "But the main question is one of strategy. How important is this project to the company's strategic goals? If the capability you're trying to build is critical, the project is worth fixing."

????Let's say that the potential cost savings you mention are significant enough that it makes financial sense to persevere. Williams recommends these four steps to turning your project around:

????1. Stop the blame game. "The finger-pointing stage is usually when I get called in," says Williams. "But with any failure, a lot of the responsibility really belongs with senior management, for not providing clear direction, or not monitoring the project closely enough, or both. Once we point that out, bosses are more willing to shift the discussion away from assigning blame and on to finding solutions" -- which leads to Step No. 2.

????2. Focus on the facts. "Real data are your best friend right now," Williams says. "Dig deep into the details of exactly what went wrong at each stage, and why." Getting to the bottom of each failure point "is like peeling an onion. You need to work down to the center. Suppose, for instance, a critical component arrived late. Why? How can that be prevented in the future?"

????He adds that it's important not to be swayed by any opinion or assumption that can't be verified. "Often people say to us, 'When you do your audit of this project, here's what you'll find the problem was,'" Williams says. "My answer is, 'Let me do the audit first and we'll see.' Anytime something has gone wrong, there's a tendency to jump to conclusions -- which often is what started the trouble in the first place."??????????????