Public tenders

One obstructive structure to project performance is public tenders. Despite all the good intentions, it is counterproductive to complex project performance.

One structure that definitely prevents efficient complex projects is the tender process dictated by the public procurement process. It is incapable of dealing with the fact that neither the scope, cost, or deadline can be predicted with a high enough precision to form the basis for a contract. Think public IT projects, that we all know, at least from the headlines. The mere cost of establishing a contract is huge, and when established, it effectively locks the project to develop the solution based on the earliest idea of the customer needs, those available at the time the RFP was done. From that point, the contract is, by default, prohibiting making a better solution based on the knowledge acquired during the project.

Some workarounds have been proposed, but the system behind them is entirely Taylor-based, and we cannot expect any solution from the system. We don’t need fluffy add-ons to the handcuffs. We don’t need the handcuffs. We need different structures starting from the RFP phase that support efficient, complex projects, not structures that prevent them.