Vol. 2 #10
Peeking behind the curtain of corporate reports: the tension between glossy presentations and buried failures.
The urge is to sweep failures under the rug when things go wrong with a project in order to save face. What is wrong is that hidden failures can’t bring out learning or continuous improvement, leading to repeating mistakes and sometimes even regulatory issues.
Anecdote: A final report was needed at the end of an arduous core banking transformation, and the project team was placed in a position where they had to present as much of a positive final report as possible. Even though everybody knew some of the key performance indicators were not reached, and other problems not fixed, the report was polished to show just the successes. This came to haunt the team when the problems hidden by this decision later came to light through the auditors, attracting fines and damage to the reputation of the bank. We know now that clarity and truth must reign in our reporting on projects.
Antidote: Proper Reporting
It’s a trap one can avoid by focusing on honest reporting. Through a culture of transparency, one is sure to share stories of failure and success regularly, ensuring that one faces head-on problems and does not sweep them under the rug. Turning failures into learning opportunities embosses a culture of growth with post-mortem analyses.
In that case, the honesty that comes with the success of a core banking project is where failures are taken as an opportunity for growth. On that note, a culture of transparency should be present to guide one through complexities in core banking transformations.
Found this article interesting? Check out these three related reads for more.
- Corporate Candor: Overcoming groupthink for better decision-making (A New Series)
- Corporate candor: Cutting corners in project management (A New Series)
- Corporate Candor: Hasty approvals in project management lead to oversight and critical failures (A New Series)
#CoreBankingTransformation #ReportIntegrity
