It is not surprising to know that ignorance can be quite a force to be reckon with. In every project, information gatekeeper can make or break your project. This is why Agile advocate retrospective on each sprint. My conclusion is that ignorance is not bliss at all.
Ignorance is Risk
Alarm bells are ringing loudly when your technical team starts to flag the following items or the PM (Project Manager) is hearing the comments from users during workshop.
- This is an IT project.
- There is no SOP.
- Resources are busy and only 1 user is available for the project.
- Please follow the same requirements as legacy system.
Ignorance is a Root Cause
In the initial phase, inexperienced PM or “nice” PM will not be sensitive. In fact, many will ignore to avoid conflicts. After all, nobody wants to negotiate such mindset or do change management. When there is a delay, everyone seeks to explain the reason but not the root cause. After all, it is really hard to admit ignorance is a root cause.
In many years of project implementation, ignorance continue to remain a key root cause. As management retrospect each project, it is a must to acknowledge that ignorance can either be ignored or be tackle head on. Only then, ignorance can be minimised for the project benefits.
Danny Kwok 