Delay, not defeat
I was at a project management seminar recently, and the talk turned (as always) to projects that don't work as planned. I asked, "How many people admit to having managed a failed project?" Unsurprisingly, every one began to argue the definition to put the most positive spin on the result, and to deny failure. Our society doesn't value setbacks, which is what happens when we fail. We talk about it -- who hasn't heard about Edison's 10,000 ways not to invent the lightbulb? -- but we don't want to admit to failing. We also don't want to be associated with anything that doesn't work; one study that I saw that showed that almost 2/3 projects in IT did not succeed, but of all the many thousands of managers none will admit to having led any of them. Add to that the discussion on what constitutes success. According to some people, success means having a big house, a luxury car, and a beautiful spouse. For others, it's having stable income an