The key to a properly planned project lies in the elimination of the unknowns. Unplanned events seldom stand alone but often have a disastrous effect on the outcome of a project-negatively impacting both finances and timeframes. The in-depth planning of a project is vastly more important than the management of the execution phase. Our experience supports that a better result can easily be achieve when average managers implement a well-planned project vs. when exceptional managers execute a poorly planned project.