Have you been part of a terrible project? What made it truly disastrous? Was it made more painful by the fact that it could have been prevented? Did any team members have to eat a teammate? Let’s agree that’s about as bad as a project gets.

Unfortunately for an infamous group of pioneers, the effort to migrate to California reached those depths of project failure. Fortunately, we can use their story and other, historical examples to underscore the value of clear expectations.

Whether it’s a tragic journey west, the loss of a spacecraft (for the second time), or a corporate effort to look hip that created one of the nastiest personalities on the Internet, failed projects share a common trait; expectations for success could have been more clear.

‘MAP. MEASURE. MOVE.’ presents a framework for building clear expectations.

Circumstance – Do you and your teammates have sufficient clarity?

Resistance – What stands in the way of taking the time to develop that clarity?

Anecdote – A story underscoring the value of an investment in clarity.

Progress – confirmation that clarity has improved.

Each chapter contains a question to determine if the necessary clarity is in place. One appendix at the end of the book combines the questions from each chapter into a survey which can be used for any project. Another appendix provides tips for researching additional, historical anecdotes to build a catalog of stories.

The primary audience for this book is the business professional focused on strategy, product development, and project delivery. Building clarity is a crucial for these roles.

Beyond the primary audience, most of us are involved in collaborative efforts where clear expectations are essential.

We lead an effort with a social group. Teachers lead students. Parents lead a family. All of us benefit from the ability to identify where clarity is needed. All of us benefit from the ability to craft stories underscoring the importance of that clarity. All of us benefit from entertaining while we lead.