The Brutal Truth About Project Breakdown
95% of technical projects fail because they are poorly broken down from the start. Not from lack of skills, not from lack of budget, but from lack of methodology to intelligently decompose a project into manageable bricks.
Here are the 5 golden rules that allow successful projects to... succeed.
"A well-broken project is a project half succeeded." - Fundamental principle of agile development
After supporting over 200 technical projects, I've identified 5 universal rules that make the difference between a project that succeeds and a project that drags on for months.
Why most projects fail
The answer comes down to one word: granularity. Entrepreneurs and project managers think in terms of "complete features" instead of thinking in terms of "minimal bricks".
Result? 6-week sprints instead of 2, cascading delays, and a team that gradually loses motivation.
Field reality:
- 70% of projects exceed their initial deadline
- 60% exceed their initial budget
- 40% are completely abandoned
- 95% of these failures are linked to poor initial breakdown
The 5 rules that will change your approach
These rules are not theoretical. They are the result of hundreds of hours of field observation, analyzed failures, and dissected successes.
Each rule is accompanied by concrete examples that you can apply to your project today.
Rule #1: The 2-Week Rule
If a brick takes more than 2 weeks to develop, it's too big. Period.
This rule seems simple, but it completely revolutionizes how you'll break down your project.
Why exactly 2 weeks?
Two weeks is:
- Short enough to maintain team motivation
- Long enough to create something tangible
- Predictable enough to avoid bad surprises
- Fast enough to test and adjust if necessary
Concrete example: Online course marketplace
Imagine you want to create an "online course marketplace" like Udemy.
❌ Bad breakdown (what 90% of people do):
- "Course management system" (4-6 weeks)
- "Payment management" (3-4 weeks)
- "Rating system" (2-3 weeks)
- "Administration interface" (3-5 weeks)
✅ Good breakdown (2-week rule):
- "A teacher can create a course with title and description" (1 week)
- "A teacher can upload a video" (1 week)
- "A student can see the list of courses" (1 week)
- "A student can watch a video" (1 week)
- "A student can enroll in a free course" (1 week)
The psychological impact
Delivering something functional every 2 weeks has enormous psychological impact:
- On the team: Constant sense of accomplishment
- On the client: Impression of tangible progress
- On the project: Quick problem detection
- On the budget: Permanent cost control
How to apply this rule?
For each feature you want to develop, ask yourself these questions:
Breakdown checklist:
- ☐ Can this brick be developed in less than 2 weeks?
- ☐ If not, how can I divide it into sub-bricks?
- ☐ Does each sub-brick bring user value?
- ☐ Can I test this brick independently?
- ☐ Can this brick be put into production alone?
If you can't answer "yes" to all these questions, your brick is still too big.
Rule #2: One Brick = One User Value
Each brick must bring concrete value to the end user. If your brick can't be "sold" to a user, it doesn't belong in your breakdown.
The technical brick trap
Many developers break down their project into technical bricks rather than user bricks. This is the most costly mistake.
❌ Technical bricks (invisible to user):
- "Setting up architecture"
- "Database configuration"
- "Authentication system"
- "REST API"
- "Unit tests"
✅ User bricks (visible value):
- "A user can create an account"
- "A user can log in"
- "A user can add a product"
- "A user can see their orders"
- "A user can modify their profile"
The user value test
For each brick, complete this sentence: "Thanks to this brick, a user can now ______"
If you can't complete this sentence, your brick is either too technical or not well defined enough.
Example: Clothing e-commerce
You want to create a clothing e-commerce site. Here's how to apply the rule:
Breakdown by user value:
- Brick 1: "A visitor can see available products"
- Brick 2: "A visitor can see product details"
- Brick 3: "A visitor can add a product to cart"
- Brick 4: "A visitor can see their cart"
- Brick 5: "A visitor can place an order"
The advantage of this approach
By breaking down by user value, you get:
- Immediate feedback: You can test each brick with real users
- Clear prioritization: The most important bricks are obvious
- Simplified communication: Everyone understands the utility of each brick
- Team motivation: Each delivery brings something tangible
Rule #3: Independently Testable
Each brick must be able to be tested autonomously, without depending on other undeveloped bricks.
This rule forces modular architecture and avoids cascading dependencies that paralyze projects.
The hidden dependency problem
Many projects fail because bricks are interdependent. Result: impossible to test anything before everything is finished.
❌ Interdependent bricks:
- "User management" (depends on roles)
- "Role management" (depends on permissions)
- "Permission management" (depends on users)
- → Impossible to test before everything is finished
✅ Independent bricks:
- "A visitor can create an account" (testable immediately)
- "A user can log in" (testable with created accounts)
- "An admin can see user list" (testable with sample data)
The sample data technique
To make your bricks independently testable, use sample data (fixtures):
- Sample users to test admin features
- Sample products to test e-commerce
- Sample content to test display
Rule #4: Deployable to Production
Each brick must be able to be put into production independently of others. This rule forces robust architecture and avoids risky "big bang" deployments.
The "all-in-one" deployment trap
Many projects accumulate features for months before the first deployment. Result: complex, risky, and often failed deployment.
❌ "Big bang" approach:
- 6 months of development without deployment
- 50 features deployed at once
- Impossible to identify bug sources
- Complex rollback in case of problems
- Enormous team stress on D-day
✅ Continuous deployment:
- Deployment every week
- 1-2 features per deployment
- Problems identified immediately
- Simple rollback
- Confident and serene team
Progressive deployment strategy
To make your bricks independently deployable:
- Feature flags: Enable/disable features without redeploying
- Backward compatibility: New bricks don't break old ones
- Database: Non-destructive migrations
- APIs: Versioning to avoid conflicts
Rule #5: Orderable by Business Value
Your bricks must be able to be ranked by business priority order. The most important brick must be able to be developed first, independently of others.
The technical order trap
Many teams develop in technical order rather than value order. Result: important features come last.
❌ Technical order (developer logic):
- 1. Database and architecture
- 2. Authentication system
- 3. Administration interface
- 4. User features
- → Business value visible only at the end
✅ Business order (user logic):
- 1. Core feature that generates value
- 2. Features that increase conversion
- 3. Features that improve experience
- 4. Administration features
- → Business value visible from the first week
The value/effort matrix
To order your bricks, use a simple matrix:
Brick prioritization:
- Priority 1: High value + Low effort = Quick wins
- Priority 2: High value + High effort = Major projects
- Priority 3: Low value + Low effort = Fill-in
- Priority 4: Low value + High effort = Trash
Conclusion: The Recipe for Success
These 5 rules are not theory. They are the result of hundreds of hours of observing successful vs failed projects.
Summary of the 5 golden rules
The 5 rules to break down a project:
- 2-week rule: If it's longer, it's too big
- One brick = One value: Each brick brings something to the user
- Independently testable: No hidden dependencies
- Deployable to production: Progressive and safe release
- Orderable by value: Important bricks first
Impact on your project
By applying these rules, you'll get:
- Respected deadlines: No more dragging sprints
- Controlled budget: Permanent visibility on costs
- Motivated team: Constant sense of accomplishment
- Satisfied client: Visible progress and regular feedback
- Reduced risks: Early problem detection
How to start right now
Take your current project and apply this simple test:
Breakdown test (5 minutes):
- List all your planned "features"
- For each, ask: "Can it be developed in less than 2 weeks?"
- If not, break it into sub-bricks
- Rank all your bricks by business value
- Start with the first one on the list
The mistake to absolutely avoid
Don't fall into the trap of "we'll finish the breakdown later". The breakdown must be done before starting to code, not during.
Good breakdown done at the beginning will save you months. Poor breakdown will cost you years.
🎯 Immediate action:
Before closing this article, take 5 minutes to break down your next feature into bricks of 2 weeks maximum. Your future self will thank you.