There’s something different about delivering projects.
They don’t fail in private.
They don’t drift unnoticed.
And they rarely give you the luxury of “learning lessons” quietly at the end.
Projects fail in public.
Whether it’s IT, infrastructure, events, hospitality, or public-facing assets, the environment is unforgiving. Timelines are fixed. Interfaces are dense. Stakeholders are vocal. Media interest is never far away.
That changes how projects behave.
You can’t hide behind reporting for long.
You can’t rely on optimism.
And you definitely can’t defer hard decisions without consequences.
I’ve seen plenty of projects in Sydney where governance existed, but decision rights were unclear. Reporting was frequent, but control was weak. Risk registers were immaculate, but risk was unmanaged.
This is something I’ve written about before when discussing project management in Sydney and why “best practice” often collapses under pressure →
👉 https://dev.to/ben_webb_projectmanager/ben-webb-sydney-project-management-1061
The issue is rarely capability. It’s timing.
Decisions that should be made early get delayed because they’re uncomfortable, political, or inconvenient. By the time they’re unavoidable, options are gone and recovery becomes theatre.
In cities like Sydney, delivery rewards early clarity over late perfection. Accountability over consensus. Judgement over process.
I’ve seen the same pattern repeat across Sydney-based projects — from infrastructure to live events — where everyone knows a decision is needed, but no one wants to own it yet.
That hesitation is usually what decides the outcome.
It’s why experienced project managers eventually stop asking “what framework should we use?” and start asking a more uncomfortable question:
Who is accountable for this decision today — not eventually?
For more writing on project delivery, governance, and accountability, see:
https://dev.to/ben_webb_projectmanager
Ben Webb — Project Manager (Sydney)
AIPM Australian Project Manager of the Year (2022)
https://benwebb.au
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