Most large industrial projects don't fail. They stall – because no one wants to be unpopular.

 

In large construction, mill, facility, and process industry projects, the real risk is often not technical complexity.

 

It's organizational hesitation.

 

Everyone knows:

• The schedule is fiction.
• The scope is bloated.
• The contractor isn’t delivering.
• The project no longer serves the original business case.

Yet, the project continues – quietly burning capital – because challenging it carries political costs.

 

After 40 years leading, rescuing, and resetting complex construction, facilities, and mill projects, one truth stands out:

 

👉 Projects don’t turn around when people work harder.

👉 They turn around when someone independent makes the hard calls.

 

This is where interim project leadership provides significant value.

 

Not because interims are smarter – 

but because they are independent.

 

Independent to:

• Internal history
• Career consequences
• Legacy decisions
• Comfort narratives

That freedom enables them to do what insiders often can’t:

• Reset reality early.
• Stop low-value work.
• Re-scope with brutal honesty.
• Hold suppliers accountable.
• Address persistent performance gaps without politics.
• Protect shareholder value, not reputations.

Projects rarely collapse overnight.

They bleed – slowly – while leaders wait for the "right moment" to act.

 

Sometimes, the most decisive leadership move a CEO or EVP can make is bringing in someone with no political future inside the organization – only a mandate to deliver results.

 

If this struck a nerve, it's probably for a reason.

 

❓ Where have you seen hesitation cost more than decisive disruption?