Habit # 5—Acknowledge and Accommodate Both Uncertainty and Ignorance

Abstract

The uninitiated may conclude after reading this chapter that project success may be unachievable. Indeed, no one can deny that projects are often difficult and challenging. Some are destined to fail from the start. This chapter embraces the notion that the project environment is awash in ignorance and uncertainty. But it also embraces the notion that project managers, their teams, and their organizations can act to constrain and manage that ignorance and uncertainty. They can improve the likelihood of project success through their own actions.

“No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main strength.”

—Helmuth von Multke, WWI German Field Marshall