Project Failure Files: Cherry Picking Projects
In Episode 82 of the Project Failure Files weekly webcast, our focus was “Only Doing Things You’re Good At,” in which Sharon and I take aim at a sneaky team dysfunction: everyone working in their “genius zone” while the unglamorous work quietly rots in the corner. We attempt to unpack the uncomfortable reality behind “play to your strengths,” which works until strengths become a cover for selectively avoiding responsibilities. The grunt work doesn’t vanish; it piles up like dishes in the sink, then shows up later as delays, bottlenecks, and avoidable fires.
We then explore the downstream damage: resentment and burnout for the people who repeatedly “step up,” perceived favoritism when leaders shield high performers from messy work, and risk when skipped tasks become rework or crises. The discussion highlights how managers often default to the familiar (“give it to the person who did it last time”) which feels efficient but blocks cross-training, undermines fairness, and leaves the team fragile—no backups, no rotation, no shared capability. Over time, the team learns the wrong lesson: glamorous work gets rewarded, invisible work gets punished with more invisible work.
The solution theme is intentional load-balancing and purposeful discomfort. Teams should make all work visible (dashboards/boards), distribute undesirable tasks transparently, and treat the “ugly” work as growth fuel—stretch opportunities, leadership preparation, and cross-skill development. Leaders can raise the value of unglamorous tasks through recognition, incentives, and consistency, and reduce favoritism optics by clearly explaining assignment rationale. Practical moves include rotating operational ownership (like on-call), “gamifying” the hard tasks, and using one-on-ones to understand capabilities and goals so assignments build both delivery and development.
Enjoy the episode!
Be sure to tune in next Monday, March 23rd at 9am Pacific for the latest episode in our weekly series as we discuss how using a single methodology or framework for every type of project can create inefficiencies and frustration. Hope you can join us on our NEW YouTube channel (please subscribe!) or find us on LinkedIn.
