I had done some really good consulting work with this organization and was asked to propose on a systems planning process. It was a competitive proposal but I felt I was in a good position to win the bid. I proposed a very creative planning process that included a planning process which included identifying rapid results projects as well as an overall plan. Much to my chagrin the other consultant proposed a classical master system planning project and they won. I was quite disheartened. I had misjudged the organizations readiness to make changes quickly.
The consultant came up with a big plan to build a major inventory management system that would save the company lots of money after the project was finished. Three years into the project it was canceled because they could not get a system people were ready to use.
I was very disappointed in that I was not able to persuade the organization of the wisdom of my approach. I could have saved the organization several million dollars if I was a better persuader. I was not ready to adapt my approach to fit with the readiness of the organization. I really was not listening carefully enough because I thought I knew the organization.
