How can PMs prove value when success often comes from pivoting away from the original plan?

Strategy

Lissette Indhira Pimentel Sosa

Community Champion

Program Manager| HARPER SRL Santo Domingo / Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic

In fast-changing environments, projects rarely deliver exactly what was scoped at the start. Sometimes the biggest success is realizing the original idea was wrong and pivoting to something better. But for PMs, that creates a paradox: our value is tied to delivery, yet we’re celebrated for changing course. How do you demonstrate and defend PM value when success means abandoning the plan?

Posted: Sep 9, 2025 10:34 AM

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Luis Branco CEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, Ldª Carcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal

Lissette Indhira Pimentel Sosa

Great question — and a real paradox for PMs today.

Success isn’t always about sticking to the plan; sometimes it's about knowing when to pivot with purpose.
That’s why we need to shift from a “delivery mindset” to a value mindset.

A good PM delivers scope.
A great PM delivers what truly matters — even if that means changing course.

To prove value in these cases, I recommend:
- Documenting the reasoning and benefits of each pivot
- Using outcome-focused metrics (not just scope/time/cost)
- Aligning stakeholders around the “why” of the change

In fast-moving environments, adaptability is value.

Posted: Sep 9, 2025 11:19 AM

Keith Novak Tukwila, Wa, United States

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy."

A leader needs to establish a plan so that everyone is committed to a common purpose with the greatest chance of success. It doesn't have to be perfect, and never will be. The leader needs to know how to read the field (current state of the plan), and when to pivot. A lot of Sun Tzu's Art of War strategies are focused on when and how to pivot and capitalize on those opportunities.

That doesn't mean the first plan was "wrong". It means as the conditions change, a revised plan is better.

Posted: Sep 9, 2025 12:21 PM

Aaron Porter

Community Champion

IT Director| Blade HQ Payson, UT, United States

How are you defining PM value?

If PM value is derived from delivering business value, and pivoting to something better brings greater business value (or prevent loss/waste), there's no conflict between PM and business value. If you're tying PM value to the ability to create and stick to a plan, that's not value. That is part of the basic skillset of a project manager that should also include scope change management. It's the job.

I've hinted at the following notion several times, in conversations over the past several years, but I'll be more direct here. Project Managers rarely deliver value. Most of the time, all we deliver is potential - something that somebody else uses in the attempt to produce business value. It's kind of like using the triple constraint to measure project success, instead of as an indicator of what the business considers more important. Just delivering something might feel like a success, sometimes, but true success, and value, come from using what was delivered to achieve the desired results.

I've seen projects that were over budget and late that still met projected ROI on schedule, and projects that met the triple constraint but the delivered product failed - a competitor beat them to market and/or had features the customer preferred, for example.

You don't need to defend PM value when abandoning/changing the plan. That's part of demonstrating PM value. The plan is just a guide to help keep things on track that you adjust as you learn new things.

Posted: Sep 9, 2025 12:48 PM

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How can PMs prove value when success often comes from pivoting away from the original plan?

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