When the results look bad it doesn't mean people don't follow common sense. For example, when the project would never get approval and a budget with realism but

When the results look bad it doesn't mean people don't follow common sense. For example, when the project would never get approval and a budget with realism but will get both when risks are left out when asking for money it's common sense to ignore risks. The team has a budget for another year, and what happens then is a different problem. The main objective of employees is not to get projects done, it is to get paid. Unfortunately our system has created perverse incentives: What manager or entrepreneur can afford to take a step back and say "what I'm proposing may not work, let's stop the project"? We have chosen to work under a pressure as if our lives are at stake (and they are - not our bodies, but our livelihood). The guy selling worthless shit, getting people to buy stuff they don't need, that may even be bad for them (or for those producing them) does not have problems. The same guy voluntarily giving up his job where he would have to do things he thinks are actually bad and/or useless is seen as a "parasite" on society - he's not working and we still have to feed him??? You bet all my estimates show the project is worthwhile if I don't have an (equally good) alternative.