Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
The Song Remains the Same
Ian Whittingham, PMP is director of Calixo Consulting, providing project and program management expertise from initiation through to implementation, covering business transformation, workflow process re-engineering, and enterprise data integration. He is a regular contributor to ProjectManagement.com. You may contact Ian directly at [email protected].
What distinguishes the successful from the unsuccessful project? After all, it’s the only distinction that really matters to project managers. It should be blindingly obvious; just go look at the results. But beyond the results, what are the characteristics that distinguish failure from success? These can occur anywhere throughout the life of a project, some during planning, others during execution. And because every project is unique and temporary, each project fails or succeeds in its own unique and temporary way. This is one reason why we find it so difficult to carry across the success of one project into another.
According to accepted wisdom, the discipline of diligent and deliberative planning is the bedrock upon which successful projects are built, for without a plan we cannot get from where we are to where we want to be. And who would disagree with the principle that “a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow,” as Robert DeNiro remarked in Wag the Dog? It is undeniably an important aspect of project success. But what conditions create successful planning?
Project management methodologies tend toward prescription--and with good reason--about what constitutes a good plan. In addition to templates, the better ones provide best practice and guidance on planning processes, such as effort estimation and risk evaluation that …
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