Okay, enough is enough. You get it! You are ready to succeed.

That is great! I knew you had what it takes. Before you venture forth into the jungle, though, you need to know a couple of things you may not have been told about Little Red Riding Hood.

Picture Little R.R. out there where any woods walker with half a brain would go prepared, ready to deal with wolves, big, bad, or not. Predictably, B.B. Wolf walks up to R.R. and says, “I’m having you for lunch!” R.R. says, “Oh! Don’t take advantage of poor little me.”

A lesser wolf would smile and say, “It’s a jungle out here, and anyone who can’t handle it is out of luck.” With incredible self-control, though, B.B. Wolf says, “Okay, but you better be prepared next time. I can’t guarantee you another free-pass.” It is a dog-eatdog world, sure enough; but as should be true for you, B.B.W. is serious about PPS.

As with B.B.W., your commitment to PPS will be seriously tested from time to time. For example:

• Joe says, “I am not comfortable with it yet.” • Sam says, “Joe says he does not like it.” • Bill says, “I hear it is over Joe’s dead body.” • Ann says, “I can’t believe Joe is being so unreasonable.” • Mike says, “Joe goes around acting like a little dictator.” • Carol says, “There is no point in talking to Joe about anything. You can just figure he’s already made up his mind and you aren’t going to change it.”

So goes the rumor-mill, with Joe serving as the grist. The rumor-millwrights are out there, busily mongering; and if you opt to join them, you can forget about having your ticket punched for the next get-together of the PPS elite.

You may hear stuff about better communication being the cure for the rumor-mill contagion. Though that is possibly true, beware. Listen in and draw your own conclusions.

• “Our problem around here is communication. No one knows what’s going on.”—But didn’t you get the message? • “What message?”— It was in an e-mail sent out last week. You should have gotten one in your mailbox. • “I do not have time to keep checking my box every five minutes. No one reads those stupid e-mails anyway. Someone should have told me.”—I see what you mean. Communication is a big problem they have. They’ll have to get it straightened out if they expect us to get anything done. Who are “they” who have to get it straightened out? THEY embraces everyone or at least everyone who aspires to PPS.

Another PPS business principle comes into play when a project crashes, a solid relationship fails, an experienced employee screws up, or something else goes sour. You cannot anticipate everything, and no one is perfect. That is life, sure enough. Yet, is it really?

The truth is that, short of an act of God, there were people who were not observant enough, clever enough, persistent enough, people who did not have enough hindsight, insight, and foresight to prevent what happened. Certainly they are only human; and just as certainly, a better outcome was their responsibility. Knowing when and why it was your fault and stepping up to accept responsibility is one way others know that you are serious about PPS.