“Project managers who believe that closing down a project will wreck their careers are tempted to carry on in the hope they will have a slight chance of saving their reputations. Both courses carry the risk of disaster for those responsible for a project, but one—abandonment—is often far better for the company.”

—  David Davis

"New Projects: Beware of False Economies" https://hbr.org/1985/03/new-projects-beware-of-false-economies, published in Harvard Business Review (March 1985)
On management of big projects

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David Davis 5
British Conservative Party politician and former businessman 1948

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“The project manager’s job is not an easy one. Project managers may have increasing responsibility, but very little authority. This lack of authority can force them to “negotiate” with upper-level management as well as functional management for control of company resources. They may often be treated as outsiders by the formal organization.”

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“I may have had many projects, but I never was free to carry out any of them.”

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Context: I may have had many projects, but I never was free to carry out any of them. It did me little good to be holding the helm; no matter how strong my hands, the sudden and numerous waves were stronger still, and I was wise enough to yield to them rather than resist them obstinately and make the ship founder. Thus I never was truly my own master but was always ruled by circumstances.

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“We could have waited for a banana to appear, but we believe in the spirit of cheese-development and confidence. We are not so poor that we are unable to carry out this project.”

Benjamin Mkapa (1938) Tanzanian politician and former president

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“Dr. Cleland was among the first to see project management strategically as well as tactically, at the center of organizational competencies… It's hard to believe, but there was a time when it was new and unfamiliar. Dr. Cleland was a driving force behind the adoption of project management as a professional competency, and is a key contributor to the success of all organizations that use professional project management standards and methodologies today.”

Gregory Balestrero (1947) American industrial engineer

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The new Vicar Apostolic of Quetta places his office under the protection of Our Lady http://www.fides.org/en/news/69326-ASIA_PAKISTAN_The_new_Vicar_Apostolic_of_Quetta_places_his_office_under_the_protection_of_Our_Lady (4 January 2021)

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