Courtesy of Johanna Rothman, but you’ll need to register (free) to read the article. She gives some good advice about how to handle slips early in a project, during the middle of the project, and then an all-too-familiar story about slips late in the project, and how the team got there by focusing on the plan and ignoring reality.
Which, (my words) ultimately, can be summed up as:
Reality Eventually Wins
Hat tip: Hal Macomber