Around 95% of Mentor’s assignments start the same way: with a program that’s already gone off the rails.

In more than three decades, across hundreds of business-critical programs, we’ve only been involved from the outset less than a dozen times.

That number tells its own story.

Most organisations bring us in only after damage is done – when overconfidence, poor design, blind spots, and resourcing mistakes have already taken root.

The result? No complex program lands exactly on time, on budget, and to scope.

In the private sector, overruns are buried in overheads. In the public sector, they surface in reports and hearings.

There’s outrage. Then it’s forgotten. The next program follows the same path.

Why Smart Executives Miss What’s Staring Them in the Face

It’s not stupidity. It’s not laziness. It’s human nature.

The perfect storm that derails programs is made of:

· Pride. Admitting a plan is flawed or a team is struggling isn’t easy.

· Optimism bias. Smart people believe they can overcome obstacles – until they can’t.

· False economy. “We don’t need external help – we have our own teams.” What feels like saving money is usually the most expensive mistake of all.

· Politics. No one wants their program singled out. No one wants to deliver bad news.

· Supplier mismanagement. Suppliers deliver 50%–70% of major programs. Yet too often, clients fail to grip them. Suppliers end up setting the pace, defining the approach – and managing the client.

· Plain fallibility. When you’re close to something, you stop seeing it clearly.

And so, the facts stay hidden – until it’s too late.

It Happens More Often Than You Think

Many leaders think: “That would never happen to me.”

But it happens all the time.

The usual pattern? A capable functional director is asked to lead a program – but lacks deep experience in major program delivery.

What’s missing is someone who’s been through the fire – more than once.

One CEO, whose company faced litigation over a failing program, put it plainly:

“My divisional director is ‘too strategic.’ He doesn’t know enough about program execution. And my program director – well, he’s a finance man. He’s never run anything of this scale before.”

The program director had been given the role as a  “career developmental move.”

It wasn’t our clients’ organisation that blew the whistle – it was the customer.

By then, the CEO considered calling in one of the Big Four. The customer’s COO poured scorn on that idea:

“We don’t need more frameworks. We don’t need a partner with a team of graduates. We need people who’ve actually done this exact job before – people with battle-tested execution skills.”

A failure everyone saw coming – but no one stopped.

What Breaks the Cycle

It isn’t more frameworks. It isn’t more reporting. It isn’t hope.

What breaks the cycle is independent, experienced scrutiny – applied early enough to matter.

That’s what the Independent Program Review (IPR) delivers:

a proven, focused way to cut through noise, politics, and wishful thinking.

· Pinpoint what’s really going wrong.

· Identify what needs to be done.

· Build a bridge between where you are and where you want to be.

An IPR drills into the real causes: the pride, optimism bias, false economy, politics – and supplier drift that lead to failure.

More precisely, it’s operational due diligence – the equivalent of financial due diligence – on what is often a company’s biggest investment.

All major investments go through financial due diligence. So why not major programs?

You know you would not approve a business case with missing numbers – so why accept missing facts and invisible risks in a program plan?

And let’s be honest: all major programs start with hundreds of unproven assumptions. That’s reality – and that’s why early, independent scrutiny matters.

Here’s the Difference

Senior executives have many things to worry about. We don’t.

We have one job – to focus on the IPR, and nothing else.

That’s why we see what others miss.

What an IPR Looks Like in Practice

An IPR does “exactly what it says on the tin.”  It’s short, sharp, and focused:

· Interviews with key players – from exec sponsors to delivery teams and suppliers.

· Review of critical documentation – plans, risks, dependencies, financials.

· Fast synthesis – no fluff, no generic frameworks.

· Clear outputs – where you are, what’s wrong, what to do.

You’ll have an early view in two weeks, with full findings in four.

Far faster – and far cheaper – than even a minor program slip.

Don’t Wait for Trouble to Find You

You wouldn’t accept a business case with missing numbers.

You wouldn’t sign off an investment without financial due diligence.

So why accept a major program plan with a ton of questionable assumptions – without operational due diligence?

An IPR gives you clarity – while there’s still time to act.

It gives you facts – not feelings – and a plan grounded in reality, not hope.

If you’re running a business-critical program, the real question isn’t “should we do an IPR?”

It’s “what are we waiting for?”

About the author

David Hilliard is founder of Mentor, specialists in strategic program execution.

You can call him on 0118 359 2444 or email david.hilliard@mentoreurope.com.