110 - Are you defining project success wrong? Most PM's do! With PMI's Dave Garrett

More from Project Management Happy Hour

1. 

   20 Nov 2025 · 1 hr 1 min

   113 - Top Shelf Replay: Stage direction in the boardroom

   What happens when you drop a senior project manager into a room full of attorneys, tribal leaders, political operators, and massive personalities? In this Top Shelf Replay, Kate & Kim revisit one of the most beloved—and re-listened—episodes in PM Happy Hour history: "Stage Direction in the Boardroom" featuring master facilitator Sheila Morago . If you've ever wondered how elite leaders steer complicated, high-stakes conversations without losing their cool (or losing six months of work with one careless comment), this episode is your new playbook. Sheila shares the tools, tactics, and…

2. 

   11 Nov 2025 · 1 hr 7 min

   112 - Burnout: when a 500k job isn't worth it, with Norlander Wilson

   Kate didn't plan to measure their burnout by the number of bags of pink-and-purple Mother's animal cookies consumed at their desk…but here we are. Kim's clue was a rotating cycle of stomach aches and "maybe these aren't panic attacks but the room is definitely spinning." And our guest, Norlander Wilson, talks about showing up to work without showering or brushing her teeth for days because she literally couldn't. This one is about burnout at work — not the "I need a weekend off" kind, but the kind that rewires your nervous system and convinces you you're the problem. About our guest:…

3. 

   29 Oct 2025 · 51 min

   111 - Top Shelf Replay: How do you start a hard conversation?

   Ever freeze up in a tough project conversation? Or worse—blow it up? In this episode of Project Management Happy Hour, Kim and Kate revisit their all-time favorite: Crucial Conversations by the team at VitalSmarts (now Crucial Learning). This book completely changed how they lead, negotiate, and manage conflict. Learn how to spot when a conversation turns "crucial," stay in dialogue instead of defensiveness, and use "don't-do statements" and "start with heart" to navigate conflict like a pro. We're not sponsored—just obsessed. If you lead projects or people, this book will change your life.…

4. 

   30 Sep 2025 · 54 min

   109 - Top Shelf Replay: The Wolf - how to take over broken projects

   Ever been dropped into a troubled project that's already gone off the rails? Welcome to life as " The Wolf. " Inspired by the fixer from Pulp Fiction , Kim and Kate revisit one of our most popular episodes—now a PMI Global talk! —and break down how to step in, take charge, and rescue a broken project without losing your cool. Kim shares his new 3-part formula for project recovery: People first – You aren't just fixing a plan, you're fixing an organization. Calm – Calm is contagious, and you can only control yourself. Clarity & Courage – Seek out misalignment, bring truth to light, and have…

5. 

   16 Sep 2025 · 38 min

   108 - Why Risk Management? Future You Will Thank You

   Why bother with risk management when you can just deal with problems as they happen? In this episode, Kim and Kate dig into the heart of that question—and the answer might just save your future self a world of pain. You'll hear: Hard-hitting stats: 1 in 6 projects go 200% over budget (Harvard Business Review), 17% of major IT projects threaten company survival (McKinsey), and why 69% of projects don't succeed. Firefighting vs. fire prevention: why controlled burns (boring, thankless prep) prevent disasters while the "heroes" just put out fires. ROI of risk management: the surprising 20:1…

6. 

   2 Sep 2025 · 47 min

   107 - Top Shelf Replay: The Closer - Avoiding Project Acceptance Exception

   Please. Let it end. PLEASE! A defining characteristic of a project is that it ends. Finally. Just finish it, right? If it were only that easy! In another Top Shelf Replay, Kate and Kim revisit one of their classic past episodes, "The Closer." We play highlights from the original Closer episode as they talk about how to build up to a crisp conclusion to your project, making it a win for everyone. Then, Kate and Kim talk through their revised perspectives and learnings since the original airing of the Closer - and some of their hard learned lessons since then! JOIN THE HAPPY HOUR! Get access…

7. 

   15 Sep 2026 · 33 min

   133: The Introvert's guide to Communication for Project Managers

   Why "over-communicating" isn't about saying more — it's about knowing exactly what your stakeholders need to hear, and when. What happens when a project manager goes silent? According to this episode of Project Management Happy Hour, nothing good. Left in an information vacuum, stakeholders don't assume the best — they assume the worst. That single insight sits at the center of a conversation about project leadership, stakeholder communication, and the quiet skill that separates good project managers from great ones: knowing exactly what to say, to whom, and when. If you've ever been accused…

8. 

   25 Aug 2026 · 52 min

   132: Why Your Most Supportive Stakeholder is Ruining your Project, with Dawn Mahan

   Projects rarely fail from a lack of templates — they fail because of people. Author Dawn Mahan reveals the animal avatars that help you spot the cheerleader, the finicky fan, and the saboteur before one of them bites you in the ankle. Why do projects really fail? Not, as guest Dawn Mahan argues, from a shortage of templates or Gantt charts — but from the people around them. In this episode, Kim and Kate dig into the human side of project delivery: the stakeholders who love your project, the ones who quietly want it dead, and the "style under stress" that surfaces when the pressure cooker of…

9. 

   12 Aug 2026 · 51 min

   131: Don't be the PM everyone hates, with Rachel Losser

   Your worst project management habit might also be your superpower — the trick is knowing which one you're wielding, and when. What actually separates a great project manager from the one everyone dreads seeing on their calendar? It's rarely a certification or a prettier Gantt chart — it's behavior. This episode of Project Management Happy Hour digs into project leadership, accountability, team dynamics, and the everyday habits that quietly undermine project delivery. The uncomfortable truth running through the whole conversation: our worst project management habits are usually just our…

10. 

    29 Jul 2026 · 39 min

    130: Rigged bids, fake deadlines, and going 181x over budget

    A $6.9 million estimate. A $1.25 billion catastrophe. How fake deadlines, a rigged bid, and a steering committee allergic to bad news turned a routine payroll migration into one of the biggest project disasters in Australian history. What happens when project leadership treats risk management as optional, decision making gets diffused across committees, and a hard deadline turns out to be completely negotiable? You get one of the most instructive project failure case studies in project management history — and in this episode, Kim and Kate pour it out one painful lesson at a time. The…

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