Tuesday Brief: This week is about questioning the structures we take for granted. Ronald Smith shows how a project can be set up to fail by its own contradictory requirements, and how to spot the trap before your team is caught in it. Then Eric Christoph makes the case that Project Online's retirement is a reason to upgrade your whole approach to project controls rather than settle for a like-for-like replacement. Both pieces ask the same question: is the structure you've inherited actually working?
New Article: The Catch-22 Project
Some projects don't fail because of poor execution. They fail because success depends on conditions that can't exist at the same time. Ronald B. Smith breaks down the contradiction that traps teams before they ever begin, and why piling on more oversight only tightens the knot. In this piece, you'll find:
- How reasonable-sounding requirements combine into an impossible loop
- Real examples from government, corporate, and startup projects
- Why stalled projects get misdiagnosed as performance problems
- The reframing move that gets a trapped project moving again
If you've ever inherited a project that felt rigged to stall, this one names exactly what you were up against.
Read Article (4 minutes)
Featured Article: Why the End of Project Online Might Be the Best Thing for Your Team
Project Online retires on September 30, 2026, and most teams are bracing for a scramble to replace it. Eric and Jeff Christoph took a different view. Rather than hunt for the closest substitute, they asked whether the forced move was a chance to fix gaps they had lived with for years. In this article, they walk through:
- Why a like-for-like replacement may be the wrong instinct
- The project-controls gaps they say Microsoft Project never closed
- How that critique shaped the tool they built, ProjectXL
- What a single governed environment for schedule, cost, and history makes possible
Read their full account, then bring your questions to their live session this Wednesday.
Read Article (3 minutes)
Register for Wednesday's live event (7/1)
Reader Poll: What You Told Us About Life After Project Online
"When we asked about your biggest open question for life after Project Online, the most telling part was that there wasn't just one. The answers spread across nearly every option, from getting your data out cleanly before the cutoff, to whether Planner Premium can really replace what you rely on, to the roads less traveled like Project Server, Smartsheet, or staying on Desktop.
There's no default path everyone's taking, which is why we're working to bring a variety of options, solutions, and expertise to you through the end of this migration chapter.
So help us prioritize. Which should we cover first?
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Or is it something else? Hit reply and share your thoughts with the MPUG team!
Live Event (7/1): Why Project Online End of Life Might Be the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us
Join Eric and Jeff Christoph of Transformative Management Solutions for the story behind their decision to stop looking for a Project Online replacement and start building something better. They will trace how a forced transition became the catalyst for a broader project-controls platform, and what that means for anyone facing the September 2026 deadline.
What You'll Learn:
- Why Project Online's retirement can work in your favor
- The difference between replacing a scheduler and rebuilding project controls
- How schedule, cost, and history come together in one governed environment
- What to look for in a tool as you plan your own migration
🗓️ Wednesday, July 1, 2026
🕛 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET
📍 Live on Zoom
🏅 1 PDU (1 Business Acumen)
Learn More + Register Here
MPUG members get live access and replays. Not a member yet? Join today or start your free 7-day trial.
Upcoming Live Events
MPUG hosts live events with leading experts on Wednesdays from 12:00pm - 1:00pm ET! MPUG members get access to live events where you get direct access to industry leaders, actionable insights, hands-on training, and opportunities to earn PDUs.
7/1/2026: Why Project Online End of Life Might be the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us | Learn More + Register Here
8/19/2026: Real Project Online Migrations: What Worked, What Didn’t – A Conversation with Ira Brown | Learn More + Register Here
More summer events coming soon!
View Our Upcoming Event Schedule
PM Best Practice: Before you add another checkpoint, check the logic
When a project keeps stalling, the instinct is to add oversight: more approvals, more documentation, more reviews. But when the delay comes from contradictory requirements (proof before funding, certainty before action, accountability without authority), more control just tightens the trap. Before adding process, ask whether the project is being asked to do something logically impossible. Sometimes the fix is to remove a requirement, not add one.
Check your logic this week!
