- Hold a review for the customer. Insist that the story be simple and completely positive, to the point of lying. Terminate with extreme prejudice all reference

- Hold a review for the customer. Insist that the story be simple and completely positive, to the point of lying. Terminate with extreme prejudice all references to "challenges", "complexity", or "risk" on the review slides. - Convince the engineers presenting the slides that you actually understand the challenges and complexities of the job. Make handshake agreements that none of this will be forgotten internally. Say "We just need a simple story to get through the review hoop." - Six months later, forget that any handshake agreement took place or indeed that anyone objected to the simple, straightforward, fallacious story presented in the review. The slides, after all, are the only thing written down. Insist that the engineers never conveyed any challenges to you. Blame them for delays, overruns, and missing features. My lesson learned: never, ever sign your name to a fictional budget, schedule, or risk summary.