ABSTRACT
Calendars, charts, metrics all skilfully employed by people with project management credentials. Good project management avoids crisis by subjecting the tools to scrutiny and the data gathered with these tools to even greater examination. Even when leaders have these qualities in abundance, invisible decision traps can get in the way of even the most intelligent people. The engineers, managers and even the astronauts themselves experience the tension that rises higher and higher with delays and also understand that their decisions can either prevent or cause a crisis. The explosion of the Challenger was a bona fide crisis. People do things to reduce tension, some of which relieve anxiety but are bad for the project and may lead to a crisis. Project managers are human and when the pressure of their work environment is extreme and they become exhausted, judgment suffers and the crisis that might have been avoided becomes more likely.
