Rebuilding Foresight on a Distressed Project
SECOND EDITION
By Neil Farquharson
Texas, USA
Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between project risk management and behavioral change management in achieving successful project outcomes. It evaluates established literature, professional standards, and practitioner research to determine how leadership behaviors, communication, stakeholder engagement, and organizational readiness influence the identification, mitigation, and control of project risks. The paper also explores whether traditional risk processes remain sufficient when project teams are overwhelmed by real-time firefighting, resource shortages, fatigue, and firmly embedded, reactive work patterns.
Using an anonymized case study of a large capital construction project, the paper describes the arrival of a senior project risk manager into an environment where the formal risk management procedure had largely ceased to function, staff turnover had eroded institutional memory, morale was low, and teams were consumed by immediate issues rather than emerging threats and opportunities. The paper argues that effective risk management in distressed projects requires not merely better tools, but behavioral transformation. By integrating technical risk frameworks with change-management principles, leaders can help exhausted teams move from reaction to anticipation, improving schedule recovery, cost control, stakeholder confidence, and long-term project performance.
Introduction
While project risk management literature is extensive, less attention has been given to how distressed project cultures prevent otherwise sound risk processes from functioning. For the purposes of this paper, a distressed project is one experiencing material schedule delay, cost overrun, leadership strain, and degraded organizational confidence. Project organizations frequently maintain formal risk management procedures while simultaneously losing the behaviors required to make those procedures effective. Registers become outdated, meetings focus on immediate issues, and risks are discussed only after they have become realized. In such environments, the language of risk remains, but the discipline itself has eroded.
This paper aims to examine the relationship between project risk management and behavioral change management in achieving successful project outcomes. It evaluates recent literature, professional standards, and practitioner research to determine how leadership behaviors, communication, stakeholder engagement, and organizational readiness influence the identification, mitigation, and control of project risks.
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Editor’s note: Second Editions are previously published papers that have continued relevance in today’s project management world, or which were originally published in conference proceedings or in a language other than English. Original publication acknowledged; authors retain copyright. This paper was originally presented at the 18th Project Management Symposium at the University of Texas at Dallas in May 2026. It is republished here with the author’s permission.
How to cite this paper: Farquharson, N. (2026). Risk Management Requires Change Management: Rebuilding Foresight on a Distressed Project; Originally presented at the 18th Project Management Symposium at the University of Texas at Dallas in May, republished in the PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue IX, September. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/pmwj168-Sep2026-Farquharson-Risk-Management-as-Organizational-Change.pdf
About the Author
Neil Farquharson
Texas, USA
A popular speaker at the Symposium, Neil Farquharson brings interactive discussion and humor to all his presentations. He is an active speaker and advisor within the project management community, with a strong commitment to professional and civic service.
A PMP-certified Project Manager with more than 20 years of experience leading complex projects across technology, construction and manufacturing environments, Mr. Farquharson now specializes in leading risk management initiatives.
Neil holds degrees from the University of Glasgow, Scotland and the School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas.
His career spans industries in both the United States and the United Kingdom, including turnaround leadership that restored profitability, reduced safety incidents and accelerated delivery performance.
A former British Army officer, Neil brings a calm, structured approach to leadership under pressure and excels at communicating clearly across organizational hierarchies—from field teams to executive leadership.
Neil can be contacted at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilfarquharson/
