Project capture is one of the most complicated areas where seasoned experts can struggle with. Capture science is rarely studied and only a few get to feel it through experience. Project capture happens at many boards, projects within companies, and in the open environment in areas such as start-ups and partnerships and community projects.
Where no legal documentation such as constitutions exist—capture is a breeze. Where new projects with no tried and tested systems exist—again capture is like slicing cheese with a hot knife.
The first mistake most make is to focus on your project and failing to appreciate who could be interested—outside and within and what their plans could be.
Lets share some shield tactics for community owned projects.
Leadership Committee: Some leaders could be founders who may not have gone through elections. If the projects succeeds beyond expectations—there could be resentment and underhand tactics to join the leadership or expel the whole lot with a new capture team coming in. To curb this—have a constitution with limited tenure and elections. This is easy on paper as some could end up clinging on to power and not creating room for others. And this creates resentment and fuel strategies for capture.
Protecting Leadership: A leadership could be doing a sterling job but someone wants to be part of the leadership. Some of the strategies to barge in includes capturing the treasurer especially where cash is involved. Cash goes missing and chaos is automatic. The whole leadership is booted out creating room for new capture team. The treasurer is the easiest link where cash handling takes place. Innocent parties in the leadership in most cases get caught in the crossfire.
Therefore to protect innocent members of the leadership committee—in cases where the whole lot is booted out—the Risks and Management Committee should automatically come in—and this should be captured in the constitution. They do investigations—present to members with recommendations and if fresh elections are required, they do so. This singles out the guilty parties and not the entire leadership.
Still its complex as the new elected committee member could have done enough canvassing and yet guilty of triggering chaos.
Who moves in after chaos—a tricky and complex matter but at all costs move with caution when kicking out the entire committee.
2 Committees to find before capture: Having a leadership committee running solo makes them sitting ducks for capture. Those interested in turfing them out only have one collective target. Push them out using unorthodox tactics—and come in as Rescue Team. But if there is a constitutionally mandated team, this means capturers have 2 stairs to climb. In capture, they often move with speed and using speed to kick out one committee—and the second committee without detection or raising eyebrows–no stroll in the park.
You could reflect on projects you have been part of and reflecting on tricks and games employed by capture teams—there was a second in charge team that was the missing link, Missiles shot straight to one team and it was over.
