Project Success: It Looks Beautiful… But Does It Actually Work?

The wedding is over.

The bride looked magnificent. The groom remembered the rings. The flowers were stunning. The food arrived hot. The champagne fountain survived. Even the white doves eventually found their way out.

By almost every traditional measure, the project was a success.

On time? Check.

On budget? Well…close enough that Dad is still speaking to everyone.

Quality? Check.

Scope delivered? Definitely. Possibly a little too definitely.

But there is one final question:

Did the wedding actually do what it was supposed to do?

Presumably, two people got married.

That sounds ridiculously obvious, but projects sometimes become so consumed with delivering the project that we forget why we started it in the first place.

Welcome to function.

What Do We Mean by Function?

Function asks whether the completed project actually performs as intended and delivers the outcome that justified the investment.

You can build the most beautiful office building in the world, but if employees cannot work effectively in it, you have a problem.

You can implement a multimillion-dollar technology system on time and on budget, but if employees find it so cumbersome that they develop spreadsheets and workarounds to avoid using it, was the project really successful?

You can construct a new manufacturing facility that meets every specification, but if it cannot produce at the required capacity, something has gone terribly wrong.

A project is not successful simply because it is finished.

It needs to work.

Function Starts With “Why?”

Before asking whether something functions properly, go back to the beginning.

Why did we undertake this project?

Were we trying to increase capacity? Reduce costs? Improve customer service? Modernize technology? Increase safety? Meet regulatory requirements? Reduce environmental impact? Improve efficiency?

Those objectives should eventually become measurable outcomes.

If a company invests $20 million in automation because management expects a 30% improvement in processing efficiency, completing the installation is not the end of the story.

Did efficiency improve?

If it improved by 3%, why?

If nobody is using the automation, why?

If employees created manual workarounds, why?

If the technology technically works but requires twice as much maintenance as anticipated, what happened?

These are not merely operational questions.

They are project success questions.

Commissioning: The Project's Dress Rehearsal

In construction and capital projects, this is where commissioning becomes particularly important.

Commissioning is essentially the process of verifying that systems have been installed correctly and actually perform as intended.

Think of it as the dress rehearsal before opening night.

The heating system may be installed, but does it heat?

The cooling system may be installed, but does it cool?

The backup generator may be sitting proudly in its designated space, but does it actually kick in when the power disappears?

Fire protection, elevators, security systems, lighting, controls, equipment and other systems may all require testing.

Finding out six months later that something doesn't work is a rather expensive way to conduct a test.

Function Isn't Always Immediate

Some project benefits cannot be measured the day the ribbon is cut.

A new building may need months of occupancy before energy performance can be properly assessed.

A technology implementation may require time before productivity gains emerge.

A new process may initially slow employees down while they learn it.

That means project success should sometimes include post-implementation review.

Come back.

Ask questions.

Look at actual performance.

Compare promised benefits with realized benefits.

Because “Project Complete” should not automatically mean “Nobody Ever Looks at This Again.”

And Then There Is Sustainability

Today, function has another dimension.

A project may work perfectly well operationally while leaving behind an environmental footprint that nobody seriously considered.

That deserves attention.

How big is the project's carbon footprint?

Start with the obvious: materials, manufacturing, transportation, construction equipment, energy consumption and waste.

But don't stop there.

What happens during the project's useful life?

A building may operate for 30, 50 or even 100 years. Decisions made during design and construction can influence decades of energy consumption, water usage, maintenance, replacement materials and waste.

Technology projects have footprints too. Data centers consume significant energy. Hardware eventually becomes electronic waste. AI and high-compute applications may require substantial computing resources.

Even our wedding has a footprint.

How far did 150 guests travel? Were flowers flown halfway around the world? How much food was wasted? How many disposable decorations went straight into bins the next morning?

And I haven't even begun calculating the environmental consequences of the champagne fountain.

Sustainability Is More Than Carbon

Carbon footprint is an important measure, but sustainability is broader.

Projects can also consider:

• Energy and water consumption

• Waste generation and disposal

• Material sourcing

• Transportation requirements

• Durability and useful life

• Repairability and adaptability

• Recycling and reuse

• Biodiversity and environmental disruption

• Social and community impacts

Sometimes spending slightly more during the project can significantly reduce operating costs and environmental impact over the asset's lifetime.

That is where whole-life thinking becomes important.

The cheapest solution today is not necessarily the cheapest, or smartest, solution over 20 years.

What Should Auditors Ask?

Auditors have an opportunity to look beyond whether the project was simply completed.

Ask what the organization expected to receive from its investment and whether those expectations were achieved.

Did the completed project perform as designed?

Were systems properly tested and commissioned?

Are users actually using what was delivered?

Were promised benefits achieved?

Are there significant workarounds, defects or performance gaps?

Are operating and maintenance costs consistent with projections?

Were sustainability objectives established at the beginning of the project, or added later because someone remembered them?

And importantly:

Who owns the benefits after the project team goes home?

Someone needs to remain accountable for determining whether the investment actually delivered what management was promised.

The Project Isn't Successful Because the Ribbon Was Cut

Opening ceremonies are wonderful.

Everyone smiles. Someone holds giant scissors. Photographs are taken. Executives congratulate the project team.

But the building, system, process or infrastructure now has to spend years doing the job it was built to do.

That is the real test.

A project that finishes on time, on budget and according to specification but fails to deliver its intended benefit is not an unqualified success.

Neither is a project that performs beautifully while consuming far more resources, energy or money than anyone anticipated.

Function asks us to look beyond delivery and toward performance.

Sustainability asks us to look beyond today and toward tomorrow.

The Bottom Line

Project success is bigger than completing a checklist.

The final product should work. It should solve the problem it was created to solve. It should deliver the benefits used to justify the investment. And increasingly, organizations should understand the environmental and social footprint created along the way.

So when everyone announces that the project is complete, there is still one wonderfully simple question worth asking:

Does it work?

And perhaps one more:

At what cost to tomorrow?

Because the best projects don't simply deliver something.

They deliver something useful, sustainable and worth having.

That is how projects create lasting value.

And that is how we Learn and Grow with LG3.