FAILfaire and some thoughts

I am an avid reader of ZD Net’s IT Project Failure blog. It’s a great selection of IT failures in the US – corporate IT failures. Michael Krigsman is an astute student of IT failures and has some great insights. One of these is this one:  Studying IT failures is important. We are in an industry where (as the much hyped Gartner figures goes) we see failure rates of up to 70%.  Failure happens at an astonishing rate. Only by understanding why IT projects fail do we have a sliver of a chance to reduce that failure rate.

Add to that the other dimension of the field that we are in: International Development.  Helping people and societies increase their own capacity to address their problems and increase the quality of life for their fellow citizens.  Or, as the Wikipedia puts it:  “International development.. seeks to implement long-term solutions to problems by helping developing countries create the necessary capacity needed to provide such sustainable solutions to their problems.”  Which, as we are now all beginning to acknowledge, is also hard. Very hard.  And, also littered with failure – something we talk even less about than corporate IT flops.

Technology, and particularly mobile technology, has, of course, as of late been lauded as the second coming in international development.  And while we certainly agree that there is much potential for the use of mobile tech to support the development, governance, accountability, and democracy efforts that we all work on, we also believe that, as a field, we are now mature and wise enough to start to take a close look at what is not working.  And have the guts and insights to talk about these flops and failures in a constructive and forthright manner.

Bring in FAILfaire.  It is a way for us to come together and talk about exactly this – what did not work, why, and how to do better.  We hope that the inaugural event in New York (where we are based) is only the beginning of a long series of conversations to talk about where we fall short and why.  Because a lot is riding on that we do.  I am reminded of a post I read by an aid worker who is nothing but wise, reflective, and honest about his field.  He writes:

It is not that we should be endlessly self-critical. The work that we do does accomplish some good. But I am challenged to remain in a state of confident humility. We must not just sit and watch while the problems of our fellow humans go unattended. We must do something, and we must do it confidently. And we must do all of this humbly. If my own experience is at all representative – and I believe that it is reasonably so – then we must go about the business of making the world a better place mindful of the fact that we are all still learning. We will make mistakes along the way. Maybe our mistakes will outnumber and outweigh our successes. We must keep in realistic perspective the limitations of what we have to offer, not just technically or intellectually, but as human beings.

Katrin, New York, March 18, 2010