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We Plan for Everything. Except What Actually Happens.
What Beau Lotto’s keynote at PMI Global Summit 2026 taught me about uncertainty, creativity, and the human side of project management.
If there’s one thing project managers love, it’s a plan.
We love timelines, organized tasks, clearly defined responsibilities, and the satisfaction of checking something off a list. We identify risks, create contingency plans, and schedule meetings to discuss what needs to happen before the next meeting.
And then reality shows up.
A stakeholder changes their mind. A deadline moves. Someone requests a “small adjustment” that turns out to be anything but small. Suddenly, the carefully constructed project plan needs a project plan of its own.
Sound familiar?
I’ve spent years working in project management, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that even the most thoughtfully organized project rarely unfolds exactly as expected.
Still, we plan.
Because that’s what we do.
But sitting in the audience at PMI Global Summit 2026, listening to neuroscientist Dr. Beau Lotto deliver his keynote, Move Your Mindset, I started thinking about…
