Project Management is Boring

This episode examines how large programs report progress under pressure. Steering committees, status dashboards, risk logs, and executive updates are only useful if they help leaders make better decisions. If governance...

This episode focuses on the gap between what Target Canada delivered and what Canadian customers expected. Many customers expected the familiar U.S. Target experience: attractive products, good prices, reliable...

This episode looks at demand forecasting in a new market. Target Canada had to estimate customer behavior without the benefit of mature Canadian sales history. The company had brand awareness, but brand awareness is not...

This episode focuses on the contradiction at the heart of Target Canada’s operations: stores could have empty shelves while distribution centers had inventory. The issue was not simply “not enough product.” It was a...

This episode examines one of the most important lessons from Target Canada: bad data can break a business. Product dimensions, vendor information, units of measure, tariff codes, item descriptions, and other data...

This episode focuses on Target Canada’s technology environment, including the implementation of SAP. The lesson is not simply “ERP projects are hard.” The deeper lesson is that enterprise systems require disciplined...

This episode explores Target Canada’s aggressive store-opening approach. Instead of entering slowly, learning from early locations, and adjusting, Target moved toward a large-scale launch. The pace reduced the...

Primary Focus: Target’s acquisition of Zellers lease locations PM Lesson: Strategic commitments can become project constraints before the project team is ready. This episode examines the real estate decision that gave...

This opening episode introduces the Target Canada case, the major causes behind the failure, and the core themes of the season. It explains why this case matters to project managers: it was a major strategic initiative...

The trailer introducing Season 3 of the Project Management is Boring podcast - Target Canada

We’ve spent this season studying one of the most expensive operational failures in modern markets. Knight Capital lost approximately $440 million in about forty-five minutes. That headline is dramatic. But the deeper...

This season has explored a pattern many organizations miss: Failures rarely begin in the moment of collapse. They begin earlier. In assumptions left unverified. In controls left untested. In drift left unmanaged. In...

We’ve talked about assumptions. We’ve talked about speed pressure. We’ve talked about governance theater— what happens when controls exist on paper, but not in practice. Today, we’re talking about something quieter...

In the last episode, we talked about speed pressure. How faster systems demand stronger governance. How the more quickly a system moves… the less time exists to detect, decide, and recover. And because of that—...

In the last episode, we talked about assumptions. How they stack. How they compound. And how unverified beliefs quietly shape system behavior before anyone notices. But assumptions become most dangerous in one...