A project management tragedy in five limericks

February 16, 2008 at 2:38 pm (Humour, Project Management, Verse)

With many changes we had to cope
Deadlines near; no money, no hope.
There was no way to wrangle,
with the iron triangle
of budget, time and scope.

The project was  in a mess.
The reason I could only guess
was the carefully constructed
schedule was busted,
thanks to a dodgy WBS.

When called to explain the delay
I told the sponsor to pray.
When he asked, “But, why?”
I said with a sigh,
“On the critical path the tasks lay.”

He said to me, “This can’t be true.
There must be something you can do.”
Shaking my head
in sorrow, I said,
“All that remains is review.”

And now, I’m not in his pay,
You see, I was fired that day.
So, I exhort you all,
to stay on the ball,
and don’t run your projects this way.

5 Comments

  1. /pd said,

    February 16, 2008 at 11:34 pm

    Classic - Well worth an early morning trolling of the site :)-

  2. An elegy on the failure of a project « eight to late said,

    February 21, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    [...] 21, 2008 at 5:19 pm (Project Management) I’ve written a project tragedy in limerick form earlier, so I thought I’d try an elegy this [...]

  3. A Corporate IT tragedy in five limericks « eight to late said,

    March 8, 2008 at 8:57 am

    [...] you enjoyed this piece, you may like to read my project management tragedy in five limericks. Feedback is welcomed via your [...]

  4. manohar awati said,

    March 15, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    The Limericks bring forth the wisdom of the Critical Path. But what if that path is obstructed or obfuscated by an uncaring regulator or by government bureaucracy ?
    After all a project is as good or as bad as those who initiate it.

  5. A project procrastinator’s tale in five limericks « eight to late said,

    April 17, 2008 at 10:09 pm

    [...] A project management tragedy in five limericks [...]

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