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CMP90: Give your Capital Markets
Programmes a 90%chance of success
The ‘levers’ of success and failure: Key insights for
teams running capital markets programmes
April 2011
Introduction
In this paper:

The three things that give technology and operations projects a 9 in 10 chance of
succeeding.

The three things 4 in every 5 failed programmes have in common.

The crucial role of the leader, and the skills needed to underpin success.
Catalyst’s research into 250 capital markets projects has exposed the practical actions that really
make the difference between success and failure. Three factors emerged as more important than
any other if a technology or operations project or programme is to deliver the value it was
designed to create. The research also uncovered three key predictors of failure.
Despite the existence of a number of studies
into the critical success factors of technology
projects, little is truly understood about why
complex global programmes in capital markets
firms succeed or fail.
Specifically, the research doesn’t tell us what
factors are most important: the small number of
things capital markets projects and programmes
should focus on if they are to succeed. There is
also a lack of industry specific data, hampering
the extent to which research findings can be
applied to specific projects within capital
markets.
As a result, capital markets firms sometimes try
to improve their chances of success by focusing
on governance: tightening up the definitions of
groups such as steering committees and change
boards, and the roles and responsibilities of
individuals within those structures. While this is
important, there is more that can be done to
ensure success.
“The degree of focus on the business outcomes
was the most important factor differentiating
between successful and unsuccessful projects.”
Catalyst has undertaken ground breaking
research to discover the key indicators of
success and failure in capital markets projects
and programmes; going beyond the governance
charts to uncover the most important things for
capital market firms to focus on.
The research is unique in that it focuses only
ontechnology and operations projects within
capital markets. Catalyst sampled 250 projects
across the industry, and used reports from the
people who actually worked on the projects to
provide valid and specific data.
Three ‘levers’ emerged as making the most
important, independent contribution to the
success of a project:
•
•
•
An unrelenting focus on business
outcomes.
A high degree of collaboration between
the project team and key stakeholders.
Clarity and completeness of the vision
the project is intended to realise.
An unrelenting focus on business
outcomes
© Catalyst Development Ltd
The degree of focus on the business outcomes
was the single most important factor
differentiating between successful and
unsuccessful projects.
Our analysis showed that the chances of
succeeding when this is present are four times
greater than without it. Without that focus, the
chances of exceeding the expected value of the
project are less than 1 in 8.
Catalyst View: All too often, the focus of a
project or programme is on the deliverable –
making sure the technology is built,
developed and delivered on time – rather
than the business outcome that will be
achieved with that technology. When the
focus is on the latter, people can see how
their individual efforts contribute to a greater
goal. It’s the difference between building a
rocket and putting a man on the moon.
A high degree of collaboration
The second most important factor was a high
degree of collaboration between the project
team and key stakeholders. When these two
groups work closely together to achieve the
project goals, sharing a common sense of
purpose, the chances of success increase to
90%.
Collaboration means the various silos and
stakeholders working constructively together to
clarify priorities, make sensible trade-offs and
agree feasible plans. It means building strong
relationships with a whole range of different
stakeholders, and developing trust amongst
those people. This isn’t always easy to achieve,
but our research shows it is critical to success.
Clarity of vision
When the vision of what a project is intended to
realise is absolutely clear, it unites people
behind a common understanding and shared
sense of purpose.
Achieving this clarity requires more than
references to the business outcomes. It requires
clear descriptions of the future operating model
and the new technical architecture that will
support and enable it. These descriptions need
to be couched in systemic terms, showing the
inter-relatedness of systems, processes, people
and organisational structures.
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“If a project has all three features, the chances
of succeeding are boosted to greater than 9 out
of 10.”
This points to the effectiveness of the
communication skills of those leading the
project. Our survey showed that over three
quarters of successful projects had leadership
teams rated ‘high’ in their effectiveness of
communicating the project vision. This
compares with less than one in five of the
unsuccessful projects.
A total of 104 projects of the 250 we sampled
displayed all three factors: a high degree of
focus on the business outcomes, a high degree
of collaboration between the project team and its
key stakeholders, and a clear vision of what the
project will achieve. Of these 104 projects, 97
(93%) exceeded or met the value they were
designed to create.
Ensuring a project has all three features boosts
the chances of succeeding to greater than 9 out
of 10.
The most significant was a lack of commitment
from the project team and key stakeholders
towards the project’s goals. Without this
commitment, the chances of failure increased to
almost 80%.
This really emphasises the importance of
building not only collaboration across all
stakeholders, but also a sense of commitment
towards the project goals – and following that
through with specific behaviours; for example
allocating sufficient time and resources to the
project.
Catalyst View: Collaboration is not easy
when stakeholders have competing goals –
which points to the importance of ‘soft’
leadership skills like creating a positive
vision of a project and aligning all
stakeholders behind that vision.
The third most important predictor of failure was
an unfeasible project plan. It is often only in
hindsight, or when things change, that a project
plan is seen as unfeasible. It is important,
therefore, that the plan adapts to changing
circumstances.
This may be more difficult than it sounds. A
separate Catalyst survey of almost 200 project
managers has found that almost 50% ‘often’ or
‘always’ experienced “the need to stick to the
plan, no matter what”.
How to avoid programme failure
In addition to looking at factors associated with
success, our research looked into the factors
that predict failure.
A total of 49 of the 250 projects sampled had all
three characteristics: a lack of focus on the
business outcomes, a lack of commitment
towards the project goals by the key
stakeholders, and an unfeasible project plan.
Of those, 39 – four out of five – failed to deliver
the value they were designed to create.
Over half of all failed projects lacked a strong
focus on business outcomes – but what were
the additional factors that contributed to their
downfall?
Project
outcome
High degree
of focus on
outcomes
Low degree of
focus on
outcomes
Exceeded
expected value
56%
12%
Failed to meet
expected value
10%
52%
© Catalyst Development Ltd
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Conclusion: The importance of
leadership
Catalyst’s research highlights the importance of
people who have leadership roles on projects
and programmes. It is the leader who defines
the business outcome of the project and who
ensures people focus on that outcome and not
just the technology that is delivered.
It is also the job of the leader to build alliances
and collaboration, and then secure the
commitment of various stakeholders behind the
business outcomes. Leaders are also
© Catalyst Development Ltd
responsible for changing project plans when
necessary, and taking difficult decisions to ‘do
the right thing’, rather than ‘doing things right’.
This demands a set of skills that Catalyst calls
‘collaborative leadership’. They are not the usual
technical skills we tend to associate with
successful leadership of technology projects, but
our research shows they are critical. Sponsors
and programme managers need to practice
these ‘softer’ leadership and collaborative skills
if they are to deliver successful programmes.
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The next white paper in Catalyst’s CMP90: Give
your Capital Markets Programmes a 90%
chance of success series looks at the
fundamentals of the leadership role in
successful capital markets programmes:
creating focus, alignment and collaboration.
conditions for success, focusing on six crucial
areas:

Leadership: Ownership of and focus on
business outcomes

Vision: Business architecture and
technical architecture

Collaboration: Alignment around what
needs to be done – and how

Governance: Sponsorship and steering;
high quality decision making based on
progress and impact

Infrastructure: The processes and
standards that deliver the change

Capability: The knowledge, attitudes,
skills and habits that support the chang
The Catalyst CMP90 method for delivering
capital markets programmes
Capital markets projects and programmes that
cross geographical, business and functional
boundaries are always difficult. Combined with
the current market conditions and regulatory
pressures, it’s not surprising they are so
stressful to run – or that most end up failing to
deliver the value they were designed to create.
CMP90 gives capital markets firms the method,
the tools and the people they need to create the
Meet our authors
Philip Ullah
Chris Cooke
Philip is a Partner at Catalyst, specialising in
designing and delivering Catalyst’s leadership
development offerings. This includes leadership
training, executive coaching, and senior
management team development.
Chris has a specific interest in talent
development within technology and change
and has worked in this area for over ten years
with multiple ‘top tier’ investment banks and
buy side firms.
He is an Organisational Psychologist, having
worked as a consultant for 22 years. Prior to that
he was a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the
University of Western Australia.
The range of assignments he is involved in
span from 1:1 leadership coaching with senior
technology managers through to building out
the full curriculum for a global Technology
Academy.
Philip is the Author of Collaborative Leadership in
Financial Services (Gower, 2011), and three
other books. His research into psychology and
work has been published widely in leading
industry and scientific journals over a period
spanning 25 years. He has spoken at academic
and business conferences in the UK, Australia,
Indonesia, Ireland, and Singapore and is
regularly invited to speak at internal events within
a number of leading banks.
Chris started his working life as a computer
scientist, and has taken both consultancy
Partner and Business Improvement Director
line management roles over the course of a
30 year career in financial services
Over a 20 year period he has consulted to some
of the world’s largest global banks and hedge
funds, including JPMorganChase, Bank of
America, Deutsche Bank, The Royal Bank of
Scotland, ING, and Man Investments. He is an
acknowledged authority on topics as diverse as
leadership, collaboration, human factors and risk,
business process re-engineering, the psychology
of high performance, and psychological
responses to change and uncertainty.
[email protected]
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experts with organisational
change specialists to deliver
enduring results. We provide
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succeed. We are catalysts for
enduring excellence.
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Disclaimer: this document is neither intended to be comprehensive, nor to provide legal or accounting advice.
© Catalyst Development Ltd
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