Hey Reader,

There’s a version of project management we talk about in theory.

RAIDs.

Timelines.

Stakeholders.

Risk registers.

Then there’s the version you don’t expect to live through…

Three weeks ago, I was in Bahrain with my wife.

What started as a normal trip quickly became something else.

Tensions were rising.

News was changing by the hour.

And then a building next to our hotel was hit.
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That’s when things got real…

For a couple of days, we sat with the same question:

Do we stay, or do we leave?

• We prayed.
• We spoke.
• We tried to make sense of what was happening.

But the truth is…

We didn’t have a clear answer.

No perfect signal.

No obvious “this is what you should do.”

Just uncertainty. And responsibility.

At some point, I realised something simple:

Faith without works is dead.

And in the same way, a plan without action is just comfort.

So I approached it the only way I knew how.

Not emotionally, but structurally.

• What is the risk if we stay?
• What is the impact if things escalate?
• What is the probability based on what we’re seeing?
• What options do we realistically have?

Leaving wasn’t straightforward.

Flights were limited. Routes weren’t clear. Information was changing.

But there was one viable path:

• Drive to Saudi Arabia. Then find a way out.

We made the decision.

Not because we were certain.

But because waiting for certainty would have been the real risk.

It took us three days from leaving Bahrain to landing in London.

Three days of moving, adjusting, waiting, recalculating.

Three days where the plan kept changing, but the direction stayed the same.

That experience reminded me of something I don’t think we talk about enough in project management:

This skillset isn’t just about delivery.

It’s about decision-making under pressure.

A few things became very clear to me:

• Resilience isn’t just endurance - It’s the ability to stay clear-headed when the situation is unclear.
• Timely decisions matter more than perfect ones - waiting too long can create more risk than acting with incomplete information.
• Involve the right people - My wife wasn’t just there, she was part of the decision. That changes how you lead.
• You won’t have all the answers - but you can still assess, structure, and move.
• Adaptation is the real plan - the initial route rarely holds. Your ability to adjust is what gets you through.

A lot of people think project management is about control.

• It’s not.

It’s about maintaining direction when control is limited.

This wasn’t a project.

But the same principles applied.

And in this case, they mattered far more than any deadline or deliverable.

If you’re early in your career, or even experienced:

• Don’t just learn how to manage projects.

Learn how to think clearly when things don’t go to plan.

That’s the real skill.

And one day…

It might matter more than you expect.

Praying you have a blessed week ahead.

Stay safe.

Yomi

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