After Notre Dame Cathedral burned down, the French government vowed to rebuild it in 5 years. Many were doubtful, given the damage to the centuries old structure.
As most of us know, in modern times, major projects almost invariably take longer than planned. Some giant public-works projects fall behind by decades.
Well, this weekend, after 5 years, Notre Dame opened on time. This is one of the few massive projects that came in on time.
One of the reasons for the success was that they followed Strategic Simplicity®. Like with most projects in the planning stage, people came out of the wood work, suggesting "improvements" and "enhancements" that were now possible with the reconstruction.
The managers, architects, and stakeholders turned them all down. They focused on one end result: rebuild the beloved cathedral just as it had been. No scope creep allowed.
© 2024 Praveen Puri
