Watermelon Projects - Green on the outside, Red on the Inside

Hi there,

I see it all the time: managers not being fully honest with their stakeholders about the real status of their projects. The reasons vary — but none of them are good, and it’s rare that they are in bad faith.

Project status is often categorised as:

• Red = Bad – We need to make decisions and re-plan (more money, more time, or less scope).

  
  

• Amber = At Risk – We need help from governance to get back on track (decisions, resources, support).

  
  

• Green = Good – Everything is fine and within the control of the project team.

  
  
  
  

When teams hide problems (or are made to hide them), I call it a “Watermelon Project” — green on the outside, red on the inside.

Here are the most common causes:

1. Stakeholders don’t want to hear it

This is the most dangerous. If a senior person tells you to “change the status from red to green” without actually fixing the issues, you’re heading straight for high stress and low success — guaranteed.Have the difficult conversation (p.158).

Show them the real risks and issues. Risk-Based Contingency (p.168) is a powerful way to do this.

2. The Project Manager doesn’t want to hear it

The team knows there are big issues, but the PM is too busy or too disconnected to see them.

Run a Lean Coffee (p.40) session to reconnect with the team and bring these issues into the open.

3. The team doesn’t know themselves

If risks and issues aren’t visible, run a S.A.V.E * workshop (p.37) and ask the question: “What might go wrong?”

Watermelon projects break people, teams, and cultures. 

If you have issues, your stakeholders need to help you — not pressure you to hide them. 

But changing other people’s behaviour is really hard, it’s much easier to change your own. Tools like Difficult Conversations (p.158), Risk-Based Contingency (p.168), S.A.V.E (p.37), and Lean Coffee (p.40) help make risks explicit and get the support your project needs.

Running a watermelon project is a career limiting move. Your job is to bring Structure and Transparency, not fogginess and confusion

Be honest. No Watermelons.

Here’s to low-stress success,

James

👉https://www.impactfulpm.com/product-page/pre-order-of-the-book

(also available in all good book stores)

(P.S. If you want these tools in your organisation, Christmas is coming. Leading Impactful Teams is a gift your team (or your boss 😉) can actually benefit from. Far better than another novelty mug or scented candle….)

*Silent Writing, Affinity Clustering, Vote, Execute