A King had 10 wild dogs. He used them to torture and kill any project manager that failed to deliver.

A project manager once gave a forecast project completion which was wrong which the king didn’t like at all, so he ordered that the project manager be thrown to the dogs.

The project manager said, “I served you loyally for 10 years and you do this?”

The King was unrelenting.

The project manager pleaded, “Please give me 10 days before you throw me to the dogs.”

The King reluctantly agreed.

The project manager went to the keeper of the dogs and told him he wanted to serve the dogs for the next 10 days. The Guard agreed and the project manager started feeding the dogs, caring for them, washing them and providing comforts for them.

When the 10 days were up, the King ordered that the project manager be thrown to the dogs. When he was thrown in, everyone was amazed. The dogs were wagging their tails playing with the condemned project manager and licking his feet.

The King was baffled at what he saw, “What’s happened to the dogs?”

The project manager then said, “I served the dogs for only 10 days and they didn’t forget my service. I served you for 10 years and you forgot all at the first mistake.”

The King realizing his mistake replaced the dogs with crocodiles.

The project management takeaway from this tale is – you are only as good as your last project!