Management have to undertake projects for a number of reasons. Big organisations need them to stay relevant and small organisations need them to grow. Both sets of organisations will always have a level of refresh and replenish work to do to keep up with the pack. The better organisations will use their project resources to gain an edge.
Larger organisations will find that trying to maintain their current profitability or level of performance means that they will have to be aware of the competition. There will be two types of competitors - the ones who are a bit like themselves that they can imitate and the new ones that are created each year that are free of the history, bureaucracy, outdated systems and standardised processes of the established organisation. Competitors with a fresh perspective can finish off incumbents quickly or take enough business to tip long term businesses into a way of working that is no longer profitable. Polaroid disappeared quickly after it ignored digital photograph, Microsoft had to play catch up when they thought the internet was a niche technology and who remembers MySpace or Friends Reunited.
Success can also put pressure on a small company. If you become astonishingly successful as a start-up then all of a sudden you need extra hardware, extra people, someone to deal with all the money coming in. These are multiple little projects that can free up time and effort to keep the momentum of the business growing. Deal with it quickly and you will maintain growth; miss the opportunity to deal with additional capacity and you will be tackling the weeds forever while a more focussed competitor takes the business that you could not handle. Choosing the right projects to undertake can be the difference.
It's not all gloom as there are peoples, teams and companies out there who can get things done and make things change. You will have met them and they look the same as the others who can promise much but fall at some hurdle.
As an organisation the challenge will be how to grow your own capability and also how to spot it in other people.
There isn't a seven step plan or some cozy bullet points that can stand scrutiny. Quick fixes end up taking longer than doing it properly. A contact of mine turned down an offer to do some work for free that had been proposed by a large consultancy as he said he couldn't afford it and would rather pay the market rate. He had experienced this type of 'loss leader' work before and knew that he would not get the best people, the supplier would not be 100% committed and if another client needed assistance they would take priority as it was unpaid work with the prospect of further work.
Another saying is 'we can't afford to do it properly but we can afford to do it twice'. Sometimes it takes more than two times to repair the damage of the initial project and any cordial relationship between client and supplier has evaporated and often ends up in court or some financial settlement.
So assuming that the client and the supplier are both honorable people how can they create a relationship that is mutually beneficial and has tangible improvements at the end? It does happen.
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