The young project manager had started his new project and was being given a briefing from the retiring project manager. At the end of the handover the retiring project manager gave him three numbered envelopes.

“My predecessor gave me these three envelopes and I have found them extremely useful. Should you encounter any difficulties with the project you may also find the advice inside useful.”

Things went along smoothly for a while but then the project started to encounter problems and stakeholders were beginning to get anxious. The project manager remembered the advice he was given by the outgoing PM at the beginning of his project and took the first envelope from his desk drawer.

The message inside read, “Blame your predecessor.”

So at the next project meeting the project manager laid the blame for the project’s problems on the decisions made by the previous project manager. The stakeholders seemed to accept the situation our young PM faced and offered their continuing support.

As the weeks passed the old issues with the stakeholders returned and the project encountered yet more problems. Having benefitted from the earlier advice, the PM decided to open the second envelope.

The message read, “Blame changes in the environment”.

The PM duly pointed out the changes that the business and the economy had gone through since starting the project, replanned the activities and moved the milestones to reflect the new circumstances. The stakeholders were impressed by the proactive stance taken by the PM and for a while the project made good progress.

However, it wasn’t long before the project again hit problems and so the PM decided to get advice from the third envelope.

The message inside said, “Prepare three envelopes.”