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Projects and life have a lot in common
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When I had no money, I spent my days around people who criticized others. Failures focus on hating. Failures assume malice. Failures obsess over what they don’t like. ​ ​ Successful people always find a reason to go further. And the explanation is simple: Because slavery takes away the heaviest burden in the universe: responsibility. That’s why even when a slave escapes and accidentally makes money, they immediately search for something new to enslave themselves to: meetings, commitments, micro-management. Look… This is simple. ​ That’s the first thing I’d do if I were living in slavery. ​ The third? Learn. Want more. Yes. I talk about life. Your life. My life. And projects. PPP projects. Any kind of project. Don’t pass the hot potato. Assume your responsibility. Learn. Thrive. People still believe that to learn you need to suffer. But no. It’s more simpler than that. Lessons about life and projects below.
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Vicente Valencia
Weekly insights on how to perform when it matters | High-stakes decisions. Real situations. No BS. | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
A few months ago, a SPV CEO called me about a contractual letter. It was almost ready to go. The lawyers had reviewed it. The board gave the blessing. Everyone seemed comfortable. But when I read it, I saw one small problem. The SPV was giving away a position worth a lot of money, and take additional risks. Look. Nobody in that team was incompetent. They simply hadn’t seen that situation before. They could not imagine in their head was the CJV was going to say and do. They were not putting...
“Operations are fine”, they said. Reports are produced. Meetings happen. Budgets are updated. And, little by little, budgets are not respected. A KPI deduction is untransferable. The client gives up trying to agree a Change Notice with the Project and call other contractors. Relationships are not that great anymore. An unresolved and relatively small claim becomes the common theme anytime the SPV meets with CJV… Value disappears… silently. One year after the other. Costs unchallenged....
A few days ago, I heard that NZ Transport Agency was withdrawing route protection for Auckland’s East West Link. What a pity. For those that don’t know… that was a multibillion-dollar project. And the infrastructure is really needed. Now… The money, time and effort already invested are gone. But that’s not only bad for the millions of taxpayers’ money wasted. It also sends the market a clear message: Don’t trust the pipeline. I bring this example, because governments want to build...