There are times when a little grumpiness does no harm and being “politically correct” is anything but correct, like in the situation I want to talk to you about today.

A potential client invited me to a meeting about “how we can make this project work” and I assumed, from this statement, that we will talk about a project rescue initiative, quite fashionable and in high demand lately.

The meeting was with a decision-making trio and, actually, their project was a transformation initiative they’ve had been struggling with for more than a year and it still wasn’t working. Ok… I quickly adapted to the new topic, I talked about different approaches, how we can do things, what we need to put in place to get different results. That’s why I was there, right?

And now comes the climax: “you know… what you’re proposing seems a bit complicated, we just need someone to keep a list of tasks and badger people to do their job“. This time I wasn’t able to readjust as quickly, because:

So, I had a big problem! How do I continue the conversation? How can I convey information aligned with my professional ethic, without them perceiving me as arrogant or even rude?

In the end, I chose to say that, based on their current approach, I don’t think my team and I are the right partners for them. That I’m not able to guarantee the success of their project.

I remembered, on this occasion, a key concept I learned in the first PMI course I ever took: professional responsibility.

In a first aid course you learn from the start that, if a victim’s ear is bleeding, you don’t put a tourniquet around his neck. Well, it’s the same when it comes to approaches to working in projects: you have to know from the start what’s a definite NO-NO. Don’t close your eyes to it.

If you have an unrealistic deadline, don’t say yes just to please the boss. Call things by their name, even if you risk losing a client.