Another important criterion for the breakthrough approach is that the resources, including money, people and technology be available. This means that you have the money and the people and the approvals already in hand to do the project. Without these items being in place, the project will be delayed and lose momentum. The real test of readiness is that without resource issues the project can get started immediately. You have found the ideal project if there is a bottom-line benefit, resources are available and the project will last less than ten weeks. Thus nothing should stop the project from proceeding immediately.
The idea is to tap into the readiness of the organization to get quick improvement. When you have completed this project, the organization should have increased readiness to tackle the next breakthrough. Going back to my example of the data center move, the next breakthrough was a new IT head. Before the initial breakthrough, I do not believe they were ready to change leaders. Also during the initial project we demonstrated to the VP of Mines that the IT group could get things done. That increased his readiness to support IT projects. What amazed me at the time was how simple this project was that they had been procrastinating on for at least a year.
