Day 1 — The Easiest Project You've Ever Started

You arrive at Deloitte's New York office — 30 Hudson Yards, 42nd floor. The views are spectacular: the Hudson River, midtown Manhattan, the kind of glass-and-steel vista that reminds you this is a $65 billion firm. The project room is ready. Actually, it's better than ready — ServiceNow Professional Services has already provisioned development, test, and production instances. There are three monitors on the lead desk, a conference phone in the center of the table, and a Deloitte-branded welcome packet with your badge, building access card, and a USB drive labeled 'Project Documentation.'

Diana Chen meets you in the project room with two coffees. She's mid-40s, precise, wearing a charcoal blazer over a simple black top. No small talk. 'Welcome to the simplest project in Deloitte IT. We're replacing a ticketing system. Everyone hates Remedy. Everyone wants ServiceNow. The budget is approved. The vendor is engaged. What could go wrong?' She says it with a smile that suggests she knows exactly what could go wrong.

She walks you through the landscape quickly: 'Larry Quinlan approved this because Elena Kostas told him it would be a showcase for our ITSM practice. Marcus Webb agreed because he thinks he'll get to keep his custom workflows. Anika Patel agreed because she was promised no disruption to Mumbai operations. Tom Bradley agreed because he's been waiting 5 years for a CMDB. They all want different things. But right now, they all think they're getting what they want.'

She pauses. 'Your job is to deliver something real before they figure out they can't all get what they want. And when that moment comes — because it will — you need to have enough momentum and enough trust that the project survives it.' She finishes her coffee. 'James Morrison from ServiceNow is downstairs setting up the demo environment. Tom Bradley is somewhere on this floor — he's been here since 7 AM, as usual. I'd start with those two. But that's your call.'