Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Agility Begins with Me
Doug is the author of the landmark book, Extreme Project Management®: Using Leadership, Principles and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility. He works with clients who undertake projects in very demanding environments: those settings that feature high speed, high change, high unpredictability and high stress. Doug has lived in the trenches—from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to Beijing, China—with over 275 project teams with budgets that ranged from $25,000 to over $25 million. He is one of the founders of the Agile Leadership Network, an organization dedicated to connecting, developing and supporting great project leaders. He is known for his hard-hitting and humorous keynote speeches that address vital issues facing today’s project-based organizations. You can visit Doug at www.dougdecarlo.com.
Sometimes I find it helpful to take a binary look at things. What the heck…computers do this all the time.
So, in the spirit of binary thinking, when it comes to project managers who are advocates of agile project management, I find that they can be divided into two camps: The Winners and the Wheners.
The Winners don’t wait for the organization to sanctify agile project management. These individuals are self-empowered people who just do it because they know it works or they feel compelled to find a different way. They don’t ask for permission.
In contrast, the Wheners, say, “We’ll go agile when management blesses it and puts the infrastructure in place.” In the meantime, the Wheners spend their days complaining about how restrictive the existing project management methodology is. And to prove their position, they find and commiserate with others who feel the same way. (I have a hunch this is the true meaning of commiserate: to share the misery.)
I remember Edward, a marketing manager, who turned up in one of my project management workshops. Edward was quick to point out that senior managers didn’t understand project management and did not provide the necessary people and funding. Moreover, management imposed top-down schedules that were consistently unrealistic. Agreeing heads nodded in unison as …
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