A few months ago, I interviewed my friend, author and speaker Scott Berkun about his latest book, Confessions of a Public Speaker. Today, it’s Scott’s turn to ask me questions about my first book, Why New Systems Fail .

SB: I’m a fan of failure and its value in teaching us things. But to label a book Why New Systems Fail might seem cynical or depressing to some. Why did you choose such a provocative title?

PS: Some have called me (and others who write routinely about failure) cynical. If you look at the statistics on IT project failures, though, you’ll see that more than three in five fail. So, is that really being pessimistic or realistic? I tried to write the book in a way to maximize success but, to me, it’s irresponsible and misleading to pretend that IT projects tend to go well.

More than just whining about problems, I pepper solutions to implementation and project challenges throughout the book. It’s about avoiding failure, not simply stating that things can go awry.

To read the entire interview, click here.