The Phoenix Project
Week #3 - Chapters 11-15
By: Layla Massiatte, Jannah Hall, and Amber Sawyer MBA 550-1
Overview of each chapter, key insights, and takeaways
Agenda
Overview
- Theory of Constraints
- Centralized knowledge
- Firefighting
- Main challenges
- Their solution
- Our solution
- Key failures in Phoenix Project
- Mitigating these risks
- Other solutions
Gamification
Microlearning
Learning strategy based on small content units that are consumed quickly. Ideal for reinforcing concepts or learning in a flexible way.
It involves applying game dynamics (challenges, rewards, levels) in learning environments to increase user motivation and engagement.
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
- Scope Creep/ Prevention steps
- Interdepartmental siloing
- Solutions
- 4th category of work
- Erik's 3 ways
- The Goal steps
Immediate Feedback
Engagement
Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
Level of emotional and mental involvement of the user with the content. High engagement improves information retention and overall course experience.
Didactic technique that proposes solving real or simulated situations to foster critical thinking and practical application of knowledge.
It is the feedback the user receives right after an activity. It helps correct errors quickly and improves understanding.
Questions/ Comments
Chapter 15
Chapter 14
Chapter 11
Chapter Recap
WIP - "silent killer"
Flaws in Change Management System
Possible Solutions
Change Reliance on Brent
Challenges
Main challenges of this chapter
Work-in-Progress
Change Implementation
Chapter 11 Solutions
Our solutions
Kanban Method
Gantt Chart
Benefits of Visualization
More info
More info
More info
Assessment
Chapter 12
Chapter Recap
In-store POS systems failure
Phoenix Project Late Deployment
Possible Solutions
Total manual fallback mode
Key Failures
Key Failures Leading to the Post- Phoenix Project Catastrophe
- Inconsistency between developers and engineers -> firewall port left closed (lack of communication)
- Lost version control of the Phoenix project (lack of accountability and accuracy)
- Deadline pressure led to corner cutting -> critical business operations put at risk
Mitigating Risks
How could these issues have been avoided?
Lack of Accountability/ Accuracy
Business Operations at Risk
Lack of Communication
What else do you think could've been done?
Chapter 13
Chapter Recap
Knowledge is Centralized to 1 Person
Brent is constantly interrupted.
Possible Solutions
Firefighting & Fixing Problems
Chapter 13
Brent is completely consumed by unplanned work.
- Brent spends his days firefighting and fixing problems; no time for completing meaningful work
- He's constantly interrupted; causing no time for real project work.
Chapter 14
Chapter Recap
Struggles with keeping up with technology
Split of company and outsourcing IT
Ongoing interdepartmental silos
Scope creep
Chapter 14 Quote
'It's not the upfront capital that kills you, it's the operations and maintenance on the back end'
Bill Palmer to Chris Allers, pg. 150
Scope Creep
What is Scope Creep?
How does it relate to the Phoenix Project?
Preventing Scope Creep
Develop a scope management plan
Define your project scope statement
What else?
Create a WBS
Interdepartmental Silos
So far we have learned
- Little to no alignment between different departments
- Lack of communication between all departments
- Marketing sets their own deadlines without any input from other departments
- Constant conflicts between IT, Development, Security, etc.
- No monthly/weekly meetings
What techniques, methods, or tools can be used to stop these issues?
Breaking Down Department Silos: Solutions
Team & Management Bonding
Strengthen Cross-Department Relationships
Clarify Roles & Responsibilities
Chapter 15
Chapter Recap
4th Category of Work
Change Management Process Hiccups
The Goal
Erik's 3 Ways
Preventing Unplanned Work
Solution
Unplanned Work
Work that prevents you from doing the important planned work that achieves operational goals.
Risk Management Plans
Erik's 3 Ways
Erik's 3 Pronged Approach to Preventing Unplanned Work
Recognize and Address How Unplanned Work Destroys Planned Work
Safeguarding the Flow of Planned Work
Eradicating Sources of Unplanned Work
5 Focusing Steps From the Goal
Can you identify the first 3?
Gamification
Microlearning
Learning strategy based on small content units that are consumed quickly. Ideal for reinforcing concepts or learning in a flexible way.
It involves applying game dynamics (challenges, rewards, levels) in learning environments to increase user motivation and engagement.
Identify the Constraint
Exploit the Constraint
Subordinate the Constraint
Any ideas on how they might be able to set the tempo of work according to Brent?
Conclusion
Do you have questions?
If something was not clear or you want to delve deeper into any topic, don’t hesitate to ask.
Thank you!
Benefits of Visualization Tools
- Clear ownership → stronger accountability
- Visual workflows → faster execution
- Bottlenecks visible → quicker fixes
- Transparency → less rework & errors
Change Implementation
In this chapter we see the change process not being implemented as inteded where change gets started but not finish. We also see another form of reliance on Brent for these change processes highlighting him again as a bottleneck.
Work-In-Progress
Bill comes to the realization of how much scheduled work isn't getting done within IT operations. He proposes filtering changes that require Brent to level 3 engineers.
Strengthening Department Relationships
- Encourage regualr interdepartmental meetings (ex. CAB meetings)
- Foster open communication & expectation management
- Build accountability -> reduce blame culture
Scenario Planning & Response
- Be Proactive
- Clear Communication
- Customer Care
- Alignment & Ownership
Define your project scope statement
- Defines product features, requirements, and deliverables
- Lists user acceptance criteria
- Identifies what’s out of scope under Project Exclusions
Build Accountability & Improve Accuracy
- Use critical analysis to find bottlenecks
- Don't waste efforts optimizing non-constraints
- Cross training
Kanban Method
The Kanban method is a project management tool that is used as a means to design, manage, and improve flow systems for knowledge work. Used as a tool to visualize and limit work-in-progress tasks.
Team Bonding
- Break down silos through team bonding actvities
- Boost morale, trust, and communication
- Strengthen workplace culture & accountability
- Organize offsite/team builing events (ex. post-phoenix celebration, excursions - rage room, etc.)
Develop Scope Management Plan The purpose of the process of planning scope management is to
determine how the project scope will be defined, validated, and
controlled
Improve Communication
- Project Communications Management plan
- Be proactive
- Personal experience
Choose your resources From videos to podcasts, articles, or forums. Explore and select the formats that best suit you and the content you will work with.
Clarify Roles & Responsibility
- Implement tools like a RACI chart for project stakeholders
- Ensure alignment across all departments
- Ability to meet deadlines, requirements, etc.
- Prevent overlaps, confusion, and finger-pointing
Type of responsibility assignment matrix; shows:
- Responsible - who does the work
- Accountable - who signs off on the work/authority
- Consulted - who has information necessary to complete the work
- Informed - who needs to be notified of work status/results
Scope Creep
What is it?
Scope creep is defined as the tendency for project scope to continually increase (time, money, features, etc.)
Examples of this in this chapter:
- Lengthening development intervals to include more features
- Marketing constantly asking for more and setting unrealistic deadlines
- Too many commitments/projects - every department overworked and stretched thin
Create a Work Breakdown Structure
- Deliverable-focused framework that defines total project scope
- Breaks project work into discrete deliverables
- Organizes deliverables into a logical hierarchy
- Provides clarity on all required work
Gantt Chart
A Gantt Chart is a project management tool that is used to display project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format; establishes how and when (shows timelines & dependencies)
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Transcript
The Phoenix Project
Week #3 - Chapters 11-15
By: Layla Massiatte, Jannah Hall, and Amber Sawyer MBA 550-1
Overview of each chapter, key insights, and takeaways
Agenda
Overview
Gamification
Microlearning
Learning strategy based on small content units that are consumed quickly. Ideal for reinforcing concepts or learning in a flexible way.
It involves applying game dynamics (challenges, rewards, levels) in learning environments to increase user motivation and engagement.
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Immediate Feedback
Engagement
Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
Level of emotional and mental involvement of the user with the content. High engagement improves information retention and overall course experience.
Didactic technique that proposes solving real or simulated situations to foster critical thinking and practical application of knowledge.
It is the feedback the user receives right after an activity. It helps correct errors quickly and improves understanding.
Questions/ Comments
Chapter 15
Chapter 14
Chapter 11
Chapter Recap
WIP - "silent killer"
Flaws in Change Management System
Possible Solutions
Change Reliance on Brent
Challenges
Main challenges of this chapter
Work-in-Progress
Change Implementation
Chapter 11 Solutions
Our solutions
Kanban Method
Gantt Chart
Benefits of Visualization
More info
More info
More info
Assessment
Chapter 12
Chapter Recap
In-store POS systems failure
Phoenix Project Late Deployment
Possible Solutions
Total manual fallback mode
Key Failures
Key Failures Leading to the Post- Phoenix Project Catastrophe
Mitigating Risks
How could these issues have been avoided?
Lack of Accountability/ Accuracy
Business Operations at Risk
Lack of Communication
What else do you think could've been done?
Chapter 13
Chapter Recap
Knowledge is Centralized to 1 Person
Brent is constantly interrupted.
Possible Solutions
Firefighting & Fixing Problems
Chapter 13
Brent is completely consumed by unplanned work.
Chapter 14
Chapter Recap
Struggles with keeping up with technology
Split of company and outsourcing IT
Ongoing interdepartmental silos
Scope creep
Chapter 14 Quote
'It's not the upfront capital that kills you, it's the operations and maintenance on the back end'
Bill Palmer to Chris Allers, pg. 150
Scope Creep
What is Scope Creep?
How does it relate to the Phoenix Project?
Preventing Scope Creep
Develop a scope management plan
Define your project scope statement
What else?
Create a WBS
Interdepartmental Silos
So far we have learned
What techniques, methods, or tools can be used to stop these issues?
Breaking Down Department Silos: Solutions
Team & Management Bonding
Strengthen Cross-Department Relationships
Clarify Roles & Responsibilities
Chapter 15
Chapter Recap
4th Category of Work
Change Management Process Hiccups
The Goal
Erik's 3 Ways
Preventing Unplanned Work
Solution
Unplanned Work
Work that prevents you from doing the important planned work that achieves operational goals.
Risk Management Plans
Erik's 3 Ways
Erik's 3 Pronged Approach to Preventing Unplanned Work
Recognize and Address How Unplanned Work Destroys Planned Work
Safeguarding the Flow of Planned Work
Eradicating Sources of Unplanned Work
5 Focusing Steps From the Goal
Can you identify the first 3?
Gamification
Microlearning
Learning strategy based on small content units that are consumed quickly. Ideal for reinforcing concepts or learning in a flexible way.
It involves applying game dynamics (challenges, rewards, levels) in learning environments to increase user motivation and engagement.
Identify the Constraint
Exploit the Constraint
Subordinate the Constraint
Any ideas on how they might be able to set the tempo of work according to Brent?
Conclusion
Do you have questions?
If something was not clear or you want to delve deeper into any topic, don’t hesitate to ask.
Thank you!
Benefits of Visualization Tools
Change Implementation
In this chapter we see the change process not being implemented as inteded where change gets started but not finish. We also see another form of reliance on Brent for these change processes highlighting him again as a bottleneck.
Work-In-Progress
Bill comes to the realization of how much scheduled work isn't getting done within IT operations. He proposes filtering changes that require Brent to level 3 engineers.
Strengthening Department Relationships
Scenario Planning & Response
Define your project scope statement
Build Accountability & Improve Accuracy
Kanban Method
The Kanban method is a project management tool that is used as a means to design, manage, and improve flow systems for knowledge work. Used as a tool to visualize and limit work-in-progress tasks.
Team Bonding
Develop Scope Management Plan The purpose of the process of planning scope management is to determine how the project scope will be defined, validated, and controlled
Improve Communication
Choose your resources From videos to podcasts, articles, or forums. Explore and select the formats that best suit you and the content you will work with.
Clarify Roles & Responsibility
Type of responsibility assignment matrix; shows:
Scope Creep
What is it?
Scope creep is defined as the tendency for project scope to continually increase (time, money, features, etc.)
Examples of this in this chapter:
Create a Work Breakdown Structure
Gantt Chart
A Gantt Chart is a project management tool that is used to display project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format; establishes how and when (shows timelines & dependencies)