Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Risky Business
Aaron is the former editor of ProjectsAtWork.com
The best project managers look risk straight in the eyes. After all, no project is worth doing without a potential benefit, and no benefit or reward comes without risk. So, since you can’t control uncertainty, embrace it. And then make it work for you and your project.
Project managers have a somewhat dubious reputation. They police initiatives, monitoring and measuring progress with cold precision at arm's length. Clutching a schedule and budget, they focus on the process, while other people — the techies and researchers, marketers and strategists — handle the "real” work, the creative stuff, the vision, and nuts and bolts.
But that rep is a bad rap. It's a detrimental generalization akin to saying coaches don't matter in team sports, or, worse, "get in the way.” Yes, the players do the scoring, general managers the trading. But someone needs to watch the game unfold, substituting at key moments, working with available resources, knowing skills and weaknesses, adjusting to on-the-field developments — all with the common goal of helping the team win.
Many project managers feed the perception that they're control freaks who hinder creativity and improvisation. Gripping the project plan like the Holy Grail, they react to the unexpected as if it were a sworn enemy instead of an opportunity to redefine the plan and …
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"Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week." - George Bernard Shaw |