Starting a project with a clean slate, for me, is far more desirable than taking over an ongoing project and being forced to take over where another project manager has screwed things up and was removed from. You can save the day, yes, but you may also be walking into an irreversible mess. At the very least, you may be taking over a project schedule that makes no sense to you, or to anyone for that matter. I have been there and usually take the remainder of the schedule and work it out my way.
Now, I'm not saying the alternative, taking the project from the very beginning, is a piece of cake. It isn't, and that is what this article is about: that paralysis one feels when trying to get the schedule in order and everything properly in place to get started. You want it to be right, you don't want to look foolish by leaving something "obvious" out, and you want it to make sense for everyone. It can sort of be like the young married couple waiting until the timing is right to start a family. If you look at it from too many different ways, the timing will never be right, and you'll go through iteration after iteration trying to make it "right," or at least to feel "right." Sometimes, you just have to take the plunge.
Now, I'm not saying the alternative, taking the project from the very beginning, is a piece of cake. It isn't, and that is what this article is about: that paralysis one feels when trying to get the schedule in order and everything properly in place to get started. You want it to be right, you don't want to look foolish by leaving something "obvious" out, and you want it to make sense for everyone. It can sort of be like the young married couple waiting until the timing is right to start a family. If you look at it from too many different ways, the timing will never be right, and you'll go through iteration after iteration trying to make it "right," or at least to feel "right." Sometimes, you just have to take the plunge.
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