The Joe Bloggs Effect: Why Rules of Engagement Matter in High-Stakes Projects
In my last blog and video, I broke down how great projects don’t always blow up from the outside — they unravel from the inside.
I should’ve given more airtime to Sun Tzu’s final points (#9 and #10), because in one $15K-a-day delay I helped fix, these principles were exactly what got us back on track.
Here’s what happened:
The project lead and director had all the authority. But they left Joe Bloggs — the finance guy — out of the loop one too many times.
Emails ignored. Calls unanswered.
Joe had board reporting obligations and wasn’t being given what he needed to sign off payments. After enough surprises, he decided, “Screw it. You don’t want to deal with me? Let’s see how you go without payments going through.”
Contractors went unpaid. Work stopped. Panic ensued.
The same director who ghosted Joe because he was too busy suddenly wanted him on speed dial. Too late.
Here’s what that project didn’t have:
No internal stakeholder map.
No rules of engagement.
No agreed response times or contact protocols.
No escalation paths.
No RACI*. Just chaos.
(RACI is a simple tool that clarifies who’s Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed on a project task. It stops the “who’s doing what?” confusion before it causes delays, drama, or dropped balls).
And that brings us to...
________________________________________
Sun Tzu Lesson #9: Build Strength and Agility Through Systems
"Strength comes from people. Agility comes from systems. Long-term success needs both."
Projects don’t just need task trackers. They need backbones:
Clear communication protocols.
Handover plans that survive sick leave, resignations or promotions.
Escalation pathways that don’t sit in someone’s inbox.
Ask yourself:
If Joe Bloggs quits tomorrow, do you have chaos or continuity?
If someone has to step in last minute — would they know who to call and what’s expected?
________________________________________
Sun Tzu Lesson #10: Talk to Each Other
"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere." — Lee Iacocca
Let’s be blunt: dashboards aren’t conversations.
The team eventually fixed things by agreeing to:
A simple milestone map for finance.
Monthly project updates.
Courtesy calls when big $$ was due.
One hotline number for urgent escalations.
A protocol that worked — even if someone new stepped in.
It wasn’t fancy. But it worked. Joe Bloggs got what he needed. Contractors got paid. And everyone got a crash course in why internal politics is delivery risk.
________________________________________
If you're leading or backing a high-stakes project, ask yourself:
Do you have a system that holds — when the humans don’t?
I’m Mary Todorov — Stakeholder Decision & Execution Specialist. Fractional fixer. Strategic co-pilot. Human risk triage for complex delivery.
If you’ve got internal or external politics stalling progress — let’s talk. Before your own Joe Bloggs hits the kill switch.
#Leadership #StakeholderEngagement #ProjectDelivery #FutureOfWork #FractionalLeadership #ExecutionSpecialist #SunTzuStillSlaps
