Five years after coming to power, CAQ government ministers are still looking for ways to implement major projects. To achieve this, they are currently taking inspiration from the book “How Big Things Get Done”. However, the author is also very critical of political bias.
Since the tram project was taken away from Quebec’s mayor, Quebec ministers have been carrying around a book called “How Big Things Get Done” in the hallways of the National Assembly.
On Wednesday it was the Minister of Infrastructure and head of the state capital, Jonatan Julien, who proudly presented his reading with the orange cover published in February 2023 by Professor Bent Flyvbjerg and Canadian journalist Dan Gardner.
As she left the Council of Ministers on the same day, it was the turn of the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, to hold in her hands the work that explains a path to the successful implementation of major projects.
However, it was the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Martin Koskinen, who got the ball rolling on the social network LinkedIn, a few days after the meeting in which François Legault informed Mayor Bruno Marchand that a mandate would be given to the CDPQ infra to find the best structuring project for to find the city of Quebec.
“A recommended read for anyone interested in large-scale projects. “Hugely relevant in these times,” he wrote, adding a friendly smile at the end of his post.
The book points out the mistakes that should be avoided in the management and completion of a megaproject such as the Quebec City tram and the third link (see box).
The authors used data from 16,000 megaprojects. They report that 92% of megaprojects are over budget or over schedule – even both.
Political bias…
In response to Martin Koskinen, the Liberal MP for Saint-Laurent, Marwah Rizqy, mocked this publication and questioned the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff’s knowledge of Professor Flyvbjerg’s writings.
I have often wondered whether those who publish their readings have actually read the work. The same author also speaks of “strategic misrepresentation” (political bias)…
❌#3eLink
❌#Tram
❌ Eastern Rem
❌Old schools↗️
❌ 10 years for the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital pic.twitter.com/s8piMOmdkR— Marwah Rizqy (@marwahrizqy) November 12, 2023
“I have often wondered whether those who publish their readings have actually read the work. The same author also spoke of “strategic misrepresentation” (political bias),” she criticized on the network.
In December 2021, Professor Flyvbjerg published “the ten most important behavioral biases in project management” in the Project Management Journal.
The bias that comes first is political bias, or “the tendency to intentionally and systematically distort or falsify information for strategic purposes.” It is also called strategic bias or power bias.
He points out that “strategic representation is the tendency to intentionally and systematically distort information for strategic purposes.”
This is also what the opposition parties and interest groups are criticizing about the CAQ government, especially on public transport issues.
Some criticisms
Olivier Choinière, a professor of project management at the University of Quebec at Rimouski and an associate researcher at the Center for Governance Studies at the University of Ottawa, analyzed the work on his website.
He expresses some criticism, particularly of the recommendation to use proven technologies to avoid “significant details and cost overruns” when carrying out a major project.
According to him, this recommendation “can be seen as a brake on creativity, which is nevertheless very necessary in certain contexts such as the fight against climate change.”
However, he believes that “every decision maker and project manager” should have a copy “as the best practices and lessons learned contained in this work can be applied to any project.”
What the authors say:
Mistakes to avoid:
Act before you think
Strategic behaviors
Lack of analysis during the planning phase
Excessive optimism
An escalation of obligations
Good steps to reproduce:
Know that we are our own worst enemy
Comprehensive risk analysis
Listen to your team (us).
Plan slowly and then act quickly
Set your sights on the goal and identify the steps to achieve it
An iterative approach (in phases) and not a single project