10 reasons pilot programs fail.

Ready, Aim, Fire" is so old-fashioned. Careful, thorough, risk averse planners simply need not apply. This fast paced, action oriented world demands a lot less "readying" and "aiming." Pilot programs are a great response. Until they succumb to these common ailments:

1. Collaboration killers

If your goal is results, you need everyone driving toward those results and partnering for success. When you set up a pilot program, you shift the focus from achieving results to judging the program. People who need to be steadfast collaborators become observers and critics instead. An "us vs. them" mentality ensues and you won't get the partnership you desperately need to succeed.

2. Discouraging persistence

Dogged determination drives more projects across the finish line than any other force. Pilots rarely generate that level of determination. Instead, a noble champion and a fan or two are often seen slaving away while others dismiss the work as "just a pilot" - a short term, temporary, half-hearted inconvenience.

3. Too narrow to succeed

In an effort to create a well defined pilot, boundaries are drawn around people and systems. Unfortunately, these often exclude factors critical to success. Like the boss who needs to set a good example, hold people accountable, and reward desired behaviors.

4. The low hanging fruit

Too often pilots focus on the easy stuff. They fix the low hanging fruit and declare success. The tough issues remain. Year after year after year.

5. "This too shall pass."

Employees who have witnessed failed pilots and abandoned initiatives have learned that business-as-usual is often the easiest path. If they drag their feet and keep their heads down, management will give up and move on. As usual. Life will return to normal.

6. Undermine the goal

When the going gets tough, it is natural to regroup. Unfortunately, an improvement effort can undermine the goal when it is the method that needs to be changed. Take meetings, for example. Books, articles, and the Internet are loaded with techniques, mostly misguided, for improving meetings. Most companies have tried multiple times to improve results. Nothing seems to make much difference, but instead of recognizing the fundamental fallacy in those methods, they give up on the goal itself. Thus, incredibly wasteful meetings continue and people convince themselves that they aren't as bad as they are.

7. Too trivial to be convincing

My favorite is the pilot that succeeds gloriously but achieves nothing because it was shunted off to an "unimportant" group where everything is seen as simple. It's like proving that a drug works on cockroaches and then expecting people to give it to their children.

8. Omits the hardest part

A quick pilot that opens eyes, teaches a few new skills, and develops a new process is great for generating energy and enthusiasm. At least temporarily. If a pilot concludes before new behaviors become habits, old habits will reign, especially once the first kink is encountered.

9. Only works when things are slow

If you wait until a slow period to try something new, All you'll learn is that it can work in a slow period. You won't learn much and you won't create believers.

10. Abdication of responsibility!