11. Are you making it easy?

Friction in projects is often self-inflicted. Once you are clear on the nature of the work, the question becomes whether your way of operating actually matches the complexity you face. Are you making it easy or harder than it needs to be.

If the project is emergent, are you still demanding tight adherence to a detailed plan? That mismatch creates overload, constant rework, and frustration – none of which serves the outcome. Control might feel like comfort but in the wrong type of project it simply slows everything down.

This question is about whether you are making it easy for people to do good work. Does the way of working match the complexity you face? Are decisions clear? Are people spending their energy jumping through unnecessary hoops rather than solving problems?

The best projects align their operating model to the complexity they face. That means agreeing upfront what kind of problem this really is and designing the way of working to suit it. Is the direction clear and therefore lots of control makes sense? Are the motivations of the stakeholders divergent so you need to spend lots of time in conversations?

When the operating model doesn’t align with the complexity, friction turns up all over the place. As the sponsor, you design how the project operates. You set the tone, the constraints, and the degrees of freedom.

So the eleventh question to ask yourself is a practical one: are you making it easy or are you using a toolkit that doesn’t match the situation