“Do We Really Need To…? Or the Project That Should Never Have Started”
“Do We Really Need To…? Or the Project That Should Never Have Started”
— Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
— That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
This exchange from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland encapsulates one of the key challenges in managing strategic communications projects with remarkable accuracy.
Many projects get under way without having first answered the fundamental question:
Do we need to get anywhere at all? And if we do, why exactly there?
In a strategic context, the question “do we need to take this particular path?” is often more important than the question of how to proceed.
Objective: a formality or a tool?
An objective is one of the fundamental elements of a management system, but simply stating an objective does not in itself guarantee that a project will create value. In practice, the same objective can serve very different purposes: it may be a formally documented requirement, or it may provide a reference point for decision-making and prioritisation.
In the former case, the objective often remains little more than part of the project documentation and reporting. In the latter, it helps align tasks, resources and expected outcomes, while also making it possible to assess whether the proposed actions are appropriate.
To launch or not to launch…?
One of the most difficult management questions concerns not only launching a project, but also determining whether it needs to be launched at all — in that particular form and at that particular time. A decision to proceed may be influenced by external pressure, prior commitments, organisational inertia, deadlines and so on, even when the expected impact has yet to be clearly defined.
Management risks are particularly high when:
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the problem is framed too broadly;
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the desired change is not defined specifically enough;
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alternative solutions have not been properly compared;
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the project is launched without a clear link to strategic priorities.
When a project is genuinely necessary
In strategic terms, a successful project is not simply about change; it is about achieving a strategically significant outcome — one that delivers measurable impact, produces the expected results and advances the organisation’s objectives.
If the desired outcome can be achieved through simpler management tools, a project may be unnecessary. If the expected outcome is not strategically significant to the organisation, launching a project may be premature. If, however, the outcome is not defined clearly enough, the project loses its managerial rationale and becomes difficult to assess in terms of effectiveness.
This is why we at ANO Energy of the Future begin by establishing what strategic outcome is required and whether a project-based approach is genuinely needed to deliver it. This does not slow the process down; it helps prevent a false start and focus resources on the activities that genuinely create value and help achieve the desired outcome.
Effectiveness begins before the project starts
Another common mistake is to assess a project’s effectiveness only after it has been completed. In practice, many of the metrics used to assess a project’s effectiveness should be defined at the point when the decision is made to launch it.
This is where you need to determine:
- whether the objective is valid;
- whether the chosen approach is appropriate;
- whether the project is aligned with strategy;
- the scale of the expected impact.
If a mistake is made at this stage, subsequent execution may not be enough to compensate for it. Conversely, a well-chosen project can withstand even a difficult implementation process if it genuinely leads to a meaningful outcome.
A strategic filter
At ANO Energy of the Future, we apply a simple test: if a project is not tied to a strategically significant outcome and does not deliver substantial impact, it should not be regarded as strategically necessary.
It may be useful.
It may be urgent.
It may be justified from an operational perspective.
But that does not make it strategically necessary.
This distinction matters, because failing to distinguish between different levels of projects leads to overloaded management and blurred priorities. When initiatives are pursued without a clear link to strategy, resources are allocated not according to the significance of their impact, but as a result of inertia or outside pressure.
Deciding not to launch a project is also a management decision. And often a more difficult one than approving its launch. It is precisely these decisions that shape a mature management system — one in which resources are directed where they genuinely create value.
Returning to the question “Do We Really Need To…?”
The question seems simple.
Yet this is what separates managing processes from managing outcomes, and mere project activity from strategically informed decision-making.
And if there is no clear answer, perhaps there is no need to go anywhere at all — at least, not by this route.
Anna Susorova
Executive Director
