Seniors don’t get away scott free though in all cases. In some of the biggest bungles you can’t just blame the coal face guys and get away with it. I like the DeMarco book “Waltzing with Bears” where he draws on Clifford’s philosophical stance: What gives you the right to believe what you believe?

Senior managers and sponsors need to listen to their teams. Setting ambitious goals is the right thing otherwise people will remain in their comfort zones. However, if you are going to do something very ambitious we need to understand that we really have got a fighting chance of getting there. My key question is: what are we going to do differently to make this happen?