“Under-promise and over-deliver” is a solid strategy.
But under-promise and deliver poorly? That’s not strategy—that’s a rip-off.
Excuses like “ERP projects are complex,” “Go-Live months are always chaotic,” or “That’s just how it is” are signs of laziness, not leadership.
When we tolerate sloppy delivery, we show a lack of empathy for our own people. Within project teams, we sometimes convince ourselves that it’s okay to hand over a subpar product—as long as we gave a disclaimer. That’s not good enough.
Big, messy ERP projects are not an excuse for poor outcomes.
Even complex transformations must be delivered with care, minimal disruption to business-as-usual, and solid support from the project team. Because when delivery is sloppy, it’s not just a system issue—it’s a people issue.
It creates stress, wastes money, and lowers the bar for what’s acceptable in our organisation.
