Ego vs execution war story

Published over 1 year ago • 1 min read

Dear project managers and executives
You are not paid to referee ego wars.
You are paid to protect outcomes.

I have seen this many times.

And doubts and concerns freeze you like a bunny looking at the two lights of the car moving to you.

Look.

If you're witnessing a standoff between two inflated egos, do everyone a favor:
Remove them both—or at least the one you can control.

Will it feel disruptive? Yes.
Expensive? Maybe.
Unfair? Possibly.

But trust me... it’s a bargain compared to the cost of keeping them around.

I've seen projects lose millions because someone had to be right.
I’ve seen teams break, timelines collapse, and reputations tank—
Not because of risk or complexity...
But because no one had the guts to pull the ego out of the room.

Leadership is about subtraction.

Sometimes, the best move is cutting the wrong person at the right time.

More wisdom? Check below.

$99.90

The 15 Top Lessons of a PPP Project Nightmare

Learn about:
The number 1 killer of Projects
Why this was not going to be just "another construction project, mate"... Read more

Get those lessons now

PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day.

PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com

PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below.

Do this before help becomes expensive

UK’s largest infrastructure project. In June 2018, High Speed 2 or HS2’s main civil contractors issued a warning. Their early estimates were showing significant cost increases. That was not a rumour. Not an anonymous complaint. Not some junior engineer being negative. It came from the contractors building the bloody thing. The project continued. Reviews followed. Committees met. Reports were written. PowerPoints were probably magnificent. As usually they are…specially when consultants are...

about 7 hours ago • 1 min read

Value for money, taught by children

Unfortunately for taxpayers, many decision-makers and politicians do not understand value for money. Not a clue. And it costs taxpayers billions. Let me tell you something. A few weeks ago, I went to Auckland Zoo. As we do every time, we stopped at the shop on the way out. This time, my son became obsessed with a crappy little meerkat figurine. About 5cm tall. Pure plastic. I did not even look at the price. I was delighted. How cheap! I walked to the counter and paid. I was slightly surprised...

1 day ago • 2 min read

Not interested in your Power Point excuses

I can see yesterday’s email hurt. Well, yes. I’ll say it again. You will never do well in life with a PowerPoint. Not long ago, I was involved in a process where the abuse of PowerPoint should have been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Sublime charts. Flourishes everywhere. Not a single letter was out of perfect alignment with the rest of its little letter friends. Like one of those choirs that goes on The X Factor, or any of the other crap they show on...