Important note: a Project Horse is not to be confused with a Corporate Horse, a Dead Horse, a Holy Cow or with Guinea Pig, which are totally different animals.

Physical Characteristics: Within this not-so-rare species, each animal individual is just as unique as a snowflake, and there will never be two identical ones. Some will look more or less exactly like a real horse, some will be entirely missing a limb or even the head, so the only telltale that you are indeed looking at a horse would be its tail (pun intended).

Conservation Status: The population is overall stable. However, there is a high volatility throughout the calendar year. In the beginning of the year, where most projects get kicked-off, you will only see a few seasoned animal individuals lurking in the shadows like the ghost of Hamlet’s father, lying somewhere in a dusty corner in the state of perpetual hibernation or being a still-ridden-dead-horse. Then, there will be a spectacular development throughout the year: the more the year will be progressing, the more Project Horses will be showing up. August is normally the month where you would witness a sharp one-time increase in the population as coming from the summer vacation, teams and project managers will be realizing that “there was this one very important project we wanted to finish this year” and throughout the months of September-November the number will be steadily growing and the shapes and forms of the individual animals won’t be for the faint-hearted among us. In December there will be nothing happening, as the month of December does not really exist.

Area of Habitat: There are a few climatic constellations and organizational dimensions beneficial for the breeding of Project Horses. Unbalanced and poorly diversified teams, where you have a lot of inspiring and visionary starters, who generate ideas easily yet can just as easily be distracted by new shiny things, are the perfect set-up for a whole herd of Project Horses to appear in no time. Lack of sync between the big picture vision and the tactical and strategic roadmaps leaves a lot of room and justification for starting yet another small project. This project will mutate into a Project Horse once the attention shifts to a different topic – sometimes more and sometimes less in sync with the vision of the organization or with the big picture.

Conception: As behind every successful man there is a strong woman and behind every successful woman there are at least five strong men who are trying to hold her back, behind a Project Horse there will be a great organizational mind who would plant idea. At this moment, there will be no way to tell whether the idea will turn into a successful project or into a Project Horse.

Fun Fact: Some Project Horses get initiated to never be finished and should rather be categorized Gunny Pigs. Due to an unlucky development at some stage, only a knowing eye can tell the difference and the Gunny Pigs as well as their creators face unjustified critique.

Pre-Natal Development: There is a multitude of ways at the pre-natal stage which can take the project to the deterministic path of a Project Horse. Sometimes these are hidden or overlooked errors, sometimes it is a misconception about the key assumptions, sometimes it is lack of due diligence and tools to keep the team and stakeholders honest about the development, which allows to take milestones less seriously and become less disciplined as the project evolves into a Project Horse.

Infant Survival Rate: Given the omnipresence of sunk cost fallacy, the survival rate of Project Horses is high.

Diet: In its infancy the Project Horse feeds on human weaknesses and even some of the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, envy, but most of all – sloth.

Future Development: There are several ways a Project Horse may develop into. Some, as Phoenixes, enter the cycle of Samsara  and become reborn each time there is a new project manager onboarded (“this time we will get it right!). Some continue hopping around in a clumsy yet endearing way, becoming everyone’s darling (“yes, it’s a bastard, but it’s our bastard!”). Some will be limping as a lame duck. Some will mutate into the next of kin – a dead horse. And some, as mentioned above, lurk in the dark staircases of organizational buildings becoming a part of corporate folklore and a serve as an ominous and solemn reminder – memento equum! – for aspiring project managers.