6Establishing a Schedule

We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.

JOHN W. GARDNER

The project manager called a team meeting for 9:00 A.M. the next morning. “Don’t be late,” he said sternly. “We’ll be discussing the project schedule.”

The team assembled promptly at 9:00 as instructed. But the manager was nowhere to be seen. At 9:20, one of the team members called the manager’s home and asked for him.

“He’ll be a little late this morning,” the manager’s wife explained. “He missed the bus.”

Your project ran over budget, you didn’t have the right people on your team, and you missed the final deadline. In fact, you went on vacation so you wouldn’t be there when your boss found out. ...

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