Charalambos L. Iacovou

In a Forbes cover story, an investment banker expressed a preference for hiring former athletes, not because they are competitive, but "because they recycle so quickly after things go wrong" [12]. Their ability to quickly get past a failure, analyze what went wrong, and correctly adapt future performance is what sets them apart from other employees. While the ability to overcome adversity is a recognized skill of effective business professionals, its role has been neglected in the realm of IT project failures. This is unfortunate because failure is common: about 15% of all IT projects are canceled before completion [10], some with disastrous effects [1].