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Many people and many businesses only do things for external validation. The complicate themselves too much. They make everything flashier, more eye-catching, and overly complicated. Of course… results reflect the trend. Why do people do this? It seems that they need to impress others and prove they can also implement those "high-level" systems and strategies. Buahhhh. Excuse-me, I’m cleaning some vomits… Sorry to tell you that nobody is going around patting you on the back because you did this or that. Or overload yourself with tasks. Or with new problems. Or fires to put out… Etc. While doing that, the most basic aspects of your work or your business (sales, cash-in, etc) are left buried and forgotten. Sorry for those trying to justify fees by overcomplicating stuff. The simpler and faster, the better. And let me put you an example. Have you seen the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark? One of the most memorable moments is when Indiana Jones faces off against an expert swordsman. The script originally called for a big, action-packed fight. The swordsman would showcase his skills in a spectacularly choreographed duel. The scene was supposed to demonstrate Indiana’s resilience and wit in a tough, drawn-out battle. But on the day of filming, both Harrison Ford and the cast and crew were suffering from dysentery—a severe diarrhea caused by bacteria—due to the conditions of filming in Tunisia. Ford was so sick that he could barely stand for long periods, let alone perform an intricate fight sequence. When it came time to shoot the scene, Ford approached Spielberg and said something along the lines of: "Can’t we just shoot the guy?" Spielberg agreed and changed the scene on the spot, where Indiana Jones encounters the swordsman and casually shoots him. That scene not only delighted audiences but became one of the most iconic moments of the saga. Beyond the humor, this shows that in business, and in life, the simplest decisions are often the ones that lead to better and faster results. For simple ideas delivered easily and fast, you can click below.
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Parkinson’s Law: Work fills the space you give it. “If you give yourself three years to complete something, completion will take three years.” Now replace “three” with whatever number… like eight. That’s what I keep seeing in infrastructure. Projects designed to take 8… 10… 12 years. Not because they need it. Because nobody in the room knows how fast it can actually be done. Some clients hire advisors who have never delivered a project at scale. Or with no direct experience in the type of...
There is a project that I follow even if I live now at the other side of the Pacific. It is… or it was… or it will be one day, one of the most ambitious (and game changer) infrastructure projects in the world. It was also meant to be a PPP. California High-Speed Rail The idea sounded great: Connect major cities. Reduce emissions. Transform mobility. On paper, it had everything. In reality… it had a problem. The scope was never stable… and still it’s not. Routes changed. Stations moved....
Not corruption. Not politics. Just… incompetence. A real project. $800M. In LatAm… No more details, as in this distribution list, there are too many people living in that country… Here you are the 4 red flags that would have helped you to smell blood miles away. First red flag: They didn’t understand their own project. I’m not exaggerating. They launched the RFP with: Misaligned traffic studies Outdated geotech data A design that didn’t match the environmental permits Second: They outsourced...