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It was a typical Wednesday morning. Typical, that is, when I am not traveling. I was out for a morning jog on our ranch here in West Texas. I was jogging on a very familiar road on the ranch. The weather was warm, the sky blue and everything was wonderful. Wonderful, that is, until I encountered the RATTLESNAKE!

This, in my opinion, was not an ordinary rattlesnake! This rattlesnake was HUGE! Had I not been paying attention to the terrain, I would likely have stepped on the snake! Instead, I saw it, froze in my tracks and waited until it slithered its huge self away.

I suddenly lost my desire to exercise. I was physically ill. Nauseous. Shaking. I was sick enough just from the sight of it, and how close I had gotten to it. And how HUGE it was! I'm telling you, this snake may be the biggest rattlesnake in West Texas! Mostly, though, I was sick because I had put myself in harms way by jogging without my gun!

I know better than to jog on the ranch without a gun. My jogging plan calls for a loaded gun – for the express purpose of killing a rattlesnake, coyote or wild hog that may cross my path. I know the plan. I developed it. At one time I followed it closely. But because I hadn't encountered anything dangerous in a long time, I had gotten careless and wasn't following my plan.

The same happens on projects. The dangerous situations don't involve rattlesnakes nor the solutions loaded guns (thankfully). Yet the dangers on projects are every bit as great and the potential consequences even greater.

When your project first begins, everyone is paying close attention to the project execution plan. Alignment sessions are held to communicate the plan and everyone gets "on the same page". Leadership emphasizes the importance of following the plan in order to achieve success. The execution plan is consistently referenced during project meetings and progress against the plan is tracked and reported each month. When small deviations arise action is taken to quickly get things back on track.

For months your project team enjoys a steady series of success. One after another the project activities and deliverables keep going well. Things look wonderful! Wonderful that is until you encounter the proverbial rattlesnake!

When things are going well on projects, leaders and team members alike, often become careless. They are lulled into believing that because the project is going so well and is so problem-free that success will just automatically continue.

Without even realizing it, they veer from the very plan that made them successful in the first place. It isn't intentional and it is rarely something big that starts it all. Instead, the lack of discipline creeps in ever so slowly. Usually so slowly that no one even notices that it is happening. It is a little bit here and a little there until suddenly, as if out of nowhere, they encounter the RATTLESNAKE!

How well are you and your team sticking to the plan? Take stock today and get back on track, now, before the venomous fangs of the rattlesnake clamp down!