Business Application - 7 Year Projects

Projects That Propel Organizations Forward

Christopher Latham Sholes is the American inventor credited with creating the typewriter. 10 Sholes had a vision for a writing machine, working extensively on the typewriter from 1868 to 1873. In 1873, he sold the patent rights to the Remington Arms company for $12,000. They continued the work and renamed the machine the Remington Typewriter. It eventually became the top-selling typewriter of all time and helped to usher in the age of industrialism. 11

Steve Jobs began a seven-year project in 1978 with the creation of the Apple Lisa Project. His vision was to build a personal desktop computer that everyone could use. The Macintosh, as it is known today, is a series of personal computers that consists of the MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air, and the Mac. However, this phenomenally successful series was only developed because of the seven years of failure that Jobs and the Apple team experienced through the Lisa Project. 12

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Prolongedprojectscan providepowerfulpayoffs.

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AThe Payoff Of Seven-Year Projects

Although seven-year projects are challenging to commit to for leaders and organizations, they should be considered by every leader. Prolonged projects can provide powerful payoffs. When a company can select the right project in which to invest time, resources, and manpower, the payoff is that the investment will propel the company to become a leader in the field—the kind that becomes a differentiator in the marketplace. Companies that commit to prolonged projects can realize several key benefits even if the project is a failure.

3. PROLONGED PROJECTS CAN BENEFIT THE COMPANY BY CHALLENGING THE COMPANY TO DEVELOP PRODUCTS OF VALUE Quick solutions and products are not always the best products or solutions. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright gave great insight to this truth when he stated: “You can use an eraser on the drafting table or a sledgehammer on the construction site.” 15 Author and therapist Wayne Muller, who founded “Bread for the Journey”—a network of grassroots community development philanthropists— echoes this thought: “In the soil of the quick fix is the seed of a new problem because our quiet wisdom is not available.” 16 Prolonged projects challenge team members to use their most creative and outside-the-box thinking. Best thinking practices often lead to better products. When companies only engage in short-term thinking or quick solutions, they rob themselves of their potential and the potential of developing products built with longevity and excellence in mind.

4. PROLONGED PROJECTS CAN BENEFIT THE COMPANY BY CHANGING THE FOCUS FROM “YES” TO “NO” Great companies get great at saying, “No.” When companies have decided on their “yes” projects it helps the focus on the company develop the discipline of saying, “No.” To focus on a prolonged project, project owners and leaders must develop the discipline of saying, “No” to potential sidetracks. A long-term project that is clearly designed, and one in which the team is highly engaged, leads to prolonged focus. A prolonged focus can help to produce better products and solutions.

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FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT