It is Dangerous To Believe Your Project Is One-of-a-Kind
Introduction: Some leadership - especially those leading mega infrastructure projects, pioneering IT initiatives, or first-of-its-kind developments—believe their project is truly unique. This belief often stems from the scale of the project, the number of stakeholders involved, its complexity, or its novelty within a region, industry, or country. However, a comprehensive study conducted by Bent Flyvbjerg…
Introduction:
Some leadership – especially those leading mega infrastructure projects, pioneering IT initiatives, or first-of-its-kind developments—believe their project is truly unique. This belief often stems from the scale of the project, the number of stakeholders involved, its complexity, or its novelty within a region, industry, or country.
However, a comprehensive study conducted by Bent Flyvbjerg and his team on 219 large-scale projects located in North America, Austalia, Europe and Middle East revealed a surprising insight: majority of the project managers surveyed believed their project was unique, none of them actually were. This cognitive bias, referred to by Flyvbjerg as the “Uniqueness Trap,” leads teams to overestimate how different their project is and consequently dismiss proven strategies, which often leads to inefficiency, repeated mistakes, and compromised outcomes.
In this article we will examine the drawbacks of believing in the uniqueness trap.
1- Reinventing the Wheel: Rejecting What Already Works
A major drawback of the uniqueness trap is the tendency to reject existing tools, frameworks, and best practices. Convinced that existing approach is not suitable for project case, project leaders often embark on creating their own systems from scratch—new rules, custom governance structures, and tailored methodologies. In many cases, these new methods mirror standard practices but with different labels, resulting in unnecessary duplication. Instead of leveraging decades of industry knowledge and global lessons learned, time, money, and effort are spent reinventing what already works, under the false belief that conventional practices don’t apply.
2- Masking Underperformance with the Uniqueness Excuse
Another risk is the tendency to attribute failure or poor performance to the project’s supposed uniqueness. Missed deadlines, flawed strategies, or underwhelming execution are too often justified with statements like, “This project is unprecedented—we couldn’t have planned for this.” However, studies show that successful project outcomes are closely tied to five fundamental pillars: a clear delivery strategy, a lean and effective organizational structure, a strong stakeholder engagement plan, a sound commercial and risk management approach, and a well-aligned staffing plan. These elements are applicable across all project types and industries. The belief in uniqueness becomes a convenient excuse that masks root issues and delays corrective action.
3- Organizational bloating and Inefficiency
Believing a project is unique can also result in unnecessarily complex and oversized organizational structures. Convinced that a tailored approach is needed, leadership often builds excessive org charts with multiple layers, overlapping roles and unclear responsibilities, thinking the project requires more resources to succeed. This bloating leads to slow decision-making, miscommunication, and inflated overheads. Rather than applying lean, effective structures from previous projects, teams often build excessive layers under the illusion that complexity is necessary for uniqueness.
4-The Search for exceptional experts
A more subtle but equally damaging effect of the uniqueness mindset is the unrealistic expectation for exceptional experience. Project leadership often seeks individuals who have done precisely this kind of project before, expecting deep expertise in every detail. While such professionals may exist, they are exceedingly rare and often come at a premium. More importantly, staffing an entire project with uniquely qualified individuals is simply impractical. This approach create false sense of talent shortages, lead to hiring delays, and weakened existing team capabilities. Projects thrive not on mythical unicorns but on well-balanced teams with complementary skills, supported by proven systems and strong leadership.
5-Isolation from Lesson Learned and Best Practices
When teams believe their project is entirely unprecedented, they often isolate themselves from broader industry knowledge. They are less likely reviewing case studies, consulting experienced professionals, or adopting standard tools and processes. This siloed mindset slows down learning, increases risk, and leads to avoidable mistakes. Instead of benefiting from collective wisdom, such projects default to trial and error—an expensive and inefficient way to manage complexity.
Conclusion:
The idea that your project is special can be motivating, even inspiring. But in reality, most projects—regardless of their size or novelty—share common characteristics with those that came before. Recognizing these patterns and applying lessons learned is not a weakness; it is a strategic advantage. By avoiding the uniqueness trap, embracing what works, hiring realistically, and focusing on core project fundamentals, leaders position their projects for greater success, efficiency, and impact.
References:
Harvard Business Review: Uniquenss Trap