
86 • Program Management in Defense and High Tech Environments
allocation” countered with “the scope was not clear (or changed).” It is
virtually never the case that it is one or the other—so the possibility of a
clean indictment of a nonperformer is very low. All the bickering, there-
fore, is a waste, and a distraction from doing the job. Establishing the
“we are in this together” environment on your program is one of the most
important things you can do to ensure its success. (In fact, with programs
that run into serious problems, all the managers are adversely affected—it
is never blamed on one individual—except gasp—sometimes the PM.
And ...