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Hi Reader,

Ever feel tempted to finish an entire bag of potato chips once it’s opened? I mean, it’s already open, right? And it seems logical to eat them all before they go stale.

But we all know it’s healthier to enjoy them in moderation, rather than plowing through the whole bag in one go. Unless, of course, you want to deal with the tummy ache afterward.

We tend to treat big projects the same way.

The whole kit and kaboodle

In my experience, companies often delay starting major initiatives until they feel ready to take on the entire thing. Just like with that open bag of chips, they think: If we’re going to do it, we might as well do it all now.

But that “all or nothing” mentality isn’t good for your business’s digestive system, either.

It leads to delays. And when nothing gets started, nothing gets done—resulting in stalled growth. One of my current clients is experiencing this now—they waited too long to begin.

Then suddenly, there’s a crunch. A shift in the market. A new budget. A board member asking,

“Where are we on this?”

And now the project needs to be done...yesterday.

For my client, even yesterday was too late.

All or nothing mentality

The truth is: even when you do kick things off, large projects involve a lot of groundwork. That pre-work can take months—and often uncovers new realities: Maybe the project can’t be done all at once. Maybe it shouldn’t be.

Large projects take time, and even when you think you are starting them, there is so much pre-work to do that it could take months before your kick off. And during this time, much will be uncovered about the project, such as whether or not the project can be done all at once, or perhaps best broken into smaller chunks.

This "all or nothing" mentality can hurt a company’s bottom line. Delaying action leads to stagnation and zero growth.

Large projects require time, and the pre-work can take months. During this time, you can discover whether the project can be tackled at once or if it can be broken down.

That’s where chunking comes in.

Chunk up or chunk down?

The idea of “chunking up” and “chunking down” project deliverables has been around for a long time in project management.

Chunking up involves taking specific tasks or deliverables and grouping them into broader, more abstract categories or concepts.

Chunking down taking one of these tasks or deliverables and breaking it down into smaller, more specific tasks or steps.

Chunk down, then start somewhere

The advice I always give to companies as they sit waiting before deciding on a large project is to start somewhere. This could be a simple initial requirements gathering exercise, a stakeholder assessment and analysis, a budget forecasting exercise, or high level strategic planning around the proposed deliverables.

This means you've moved the needle further along than where you were before! Progress is everything, however small it may be.

You don’t need to eat the entire bag of chips. But portioning it out? That’s a much more digestible long-term plan for everyone involved.

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