|
|
Complacency Kills
Issue #009
Date: 2 March 2026
|
Hey there, Reader,
Somewhere in Afghanistan, on a road we'd driven over a hundred times, I watched my team start to relax.
Not dramatically. It's never dramatic at first.
It's the jokes getting a little louder. The eyes going a little soft. The pre-mission checks getting a little faster because "we know this road." The mental preparation getting replaced by comfort.
And that's exactly when the enemy is waiting for you......
Lets Get Proactive Over Reactive!
Quote of the Week
“A project without a critical path is like a ship without a rudder.”
- D. Meyer
|
Story of the Week
In the Marine Corps, we had a saying that got drilled into us from day one:
Complacency Kills.
Not "complacency is bad." Not "watch out for complacency." Kills. Present tense. No ambiguity.
Because the threat doesn't care that the last 100 convoys went fine. The IED doesn't know your track record. The ambush isn't impressed by your experience on this route.
The danger doesn't decrease because YOU got comfortable. It just finds you less prepared.
My job as a leader wasn't just to plan the mission. It was to keep my team mentally in the fight — every single time — no matter how routine it felt. When I sensed the team drifting, I'd pull them back with one question:
"What happens if today is different?"
That question cuts through comfort fast.
I've had to ask that same question in project meetings.
You probably know the moment. Someone around the table says "we've done five projects just like this, we know what we're doing" — and the risk register doesn't get updated, the probability scores don't get reassessed, and the team stops treating the risks like real threats.
Because nothing bad happened last time.
And that's exactly when something bad happens.
Here's the PM version of Complacency Kills:
The danger on your project doesn't decrease because your last ten high-priority risks didn't materialize. The market disruption doesn't care that your last five similar projects went smoothly.
Your key resource going down doesn't check your track record before it happens.
When you stop actively managing risk, when you file the register at kickoff and assume the rest will take care of itself, you've just driven down a familiar road with your eyes half open.
The question isn't "has this happened before?"
The question is "what if it happens today?"
That's the difference between reactive and proactive risk management. Between scrambling and responding. Between hoping and preparing.
Stay in the fight. Reassess continuously. Never let a quiet risk register convince you the threats have gone away.
Because they haven't. You just stopped looking.
The Bearded PM on YouTube
I used a surprising source to illustrate exactly this lesson, the Marvel show Loki.
The TVA had centuries of experience, infinite data, and perfect monitoring. And they still failed catastrophically — because they got comfortable with the same response to every risk, every time, without ever stopping to actually analyze what they were dealing with.
Sound familiar?
Watch: "Stop Pruning Risks: The One Mistake Killing Your Projects"
Please don't forget to "Like" the video and Comment any residual or secondary risks you've have in your projects!
|
44Risk PM Courses and More!
If you've been thinking about getting your PMP® or PMI-RMP® in 2026 (and you should - the market demand is only growing right now), below are your next chances:
PMP® Exam Prep
Dates: 7-8/14-15 March
Format: Virtual, 8 hrs/day, Weekend Course
What's Included: All study materials, practice exam, 35 contact hours, application guidance, and access to me.
|
|
PMI-RMP® Exam Prep
Dates: 16-17 | 23-24 May
Format: Virtual, 7.5 hrs/day, Weekend Course
What's Included: All study materials, practice exam, 30 contact hours, application guidance, and access to me.
|
|
|
Free Training
Get my Free Training on What You Need to Know to Pass the PMP®.
|
|
|
NEW Free Training
The Roadmap to the PMI-RMP® Certification.
|
PM Dad Joke of the Week
Why did the risk manager cross the road?
To assess the probability and impact on the other side and document a contingency plan if the chicken beat them to it.
|
P.S. - What's YOUR version of "the road you've driven 100 times?" The project, the process, the assumption you've stopped questioning because it's always been fine. Hit reply and tell me. I genuinely want to know and it might end up in a future email.
Russ Parker
Founder, 44Risk PM
PMP® | PMI-RMP® | PMI-ACP® | Retired USMC
PMI-ATP Instructor for the PMP® and PMI-RMP®
|
