Most projects fail before execution begins
Not because teams can’t deliver - but because the decision was never properly framed in the first place.
We help project leaders get clear, aligned and decision-ready - before committing time, money and people.
For leaders of complex capital projects in energy, mining and infrastructure and the advisors who work alongside them.
A 90-second diagnostic to see if your project is set up to succeed.
Who is this for
We work globally with
Owner teams in energy, mining and infrastructure
You are at the front end of a capital project. The gate paperwork exists. What is missing is genuine clarity about what you are deciding, and why.
Anyone starting something complex
High uncertainty, several plausible solutions, and a lot of people who each define success differently. The stakes are real and the path is not obvious.
Consultants, advisors and facilitators
You are brought in early and need a defensible framework for setting projects up - not another template to fill in.
See the training →
Why most projects fail
We rush to execution
Before understanding the real problem. The pressure to show progress is real, and a team that is planning looks slower than a team that is building - right up until the rebuild
Alignment is assumed and not built
Until it breaks under pressure. Nobody disagrees in the framing or later in the kick-off meeting. Disagreement surfaces at the first hard trade-off, when it is expensive.
Success is unclear
No shared definition, no real direction. Ask five people what a good outcome looks like and write the answers down separately. The gap is almost always wider than anyone expected.
Assumptions aren’t tested
They are treated as facts, and they drive decisions. The most dangerous assumptions are the ones nobody has said out loud, because nobody thinks they need saying.
Solutions come too early
Options are never fully explored. Once a front-runner exists, everything after it becomes the work of justifying it rather than testing it.
These are challenges that can be resolved at the start.
A 90-second diagnostic to see if your project is set up to succeed.
How to set your project up for success - before
execution begins
Most teams focus on delivery. We focus on what happens before that. Because that’s where projects are won or lost.
We help you get clear, aligned, and decision-ready -
so execution becomes faster, easier, and far less risky.
- Define what you’re really solving
Move beyond symptoms and define the problem.
- Align the people who matter
Bring Stakeholders together early to build a real alignment.
- Test what must be true
Identify, name and challenge assumptions.
- Explore options
Avoid premature solutions and explore options.
- Make decisions with confidence
Know when to move forward, pause, or rethink and why.
so you stop reacting to problems…
and start preventing them.
How decision gates actually work
- and what usually goes wrong
A decision gate is a point where an organisation chooses between genuinely different options. That is the whole idea.
In practice, most gates do not work like that. A team picks a solution early, often informally, in the first few weeks - and by the gate there is one option with a business case wrapped around it. The gate becomes an approval, not a decision.
This is what PATH prevents. It is the framing work in Phases 1 and 2 - before the money is committed.
Where this comes from
17+ years in oil and gas and mining projects across Australia, Canada, the United States and the UK - more than ten of them inside Woodside Energy, an owner company, on the side of the table where the money actually gets committed.
Most project methodologies are written by people who deliver projects. This comes from the other side - the room where an organisation decides whether to proceed or not.
We are supported by a bench of senior associates with 20 to 35 years each in project management, value engineering, technical assurance and process safety, across Australia, Asia, Europe, North and South America.
- Iwona Wilson, Co-founder, and author of Where Projects Are Won or Lost
How we help you fix projects before they fail
Choose what you need based on where your project is right now
Not sure which one you need?
Start by understanding where your project really stands.
Test Your Project in 90 Seconds
A simple diagnostic to see if your project is truly ready for the next decision.
Before you fix execution fix how projects start
We kept seeing the same pattern:
projects with strong teams… still failing.
Not because of execution but because the problem was never clearly defined.
That's Why We Wrote: "Where Projects Are Won or Lost: a practical guide to early decisions, framing and governance"
What You get:
-
why projects fail early
-
the patterns most teams miss
-
a practical approach to decision-ready projects
-
how to set up a simple governance on a complex project
-
a complete framework to opportunity framing
-
how to implement a decision gate process
-
case studies from oil and gas and mining from practitioners
.jpg)
Let’s look at your project together
Nine questions. You get a score, the two areas most at risk, and what to do about each.
.png){kind=small}
Take the 90-sec Project Test
Download now.