I’ve heard it said before that a good way to identify a novice Project Manager (and to a lesser extent, Scrum Master) is when you hear them say something along the lines of “if something doesn’t go to plan, then we’ll…”.

A seasoned Project Manager (or Scrum Master) on the other hand, will more likely take the approach of “when something doesn’t go to plan, then we’ll…”.

That’s only a small difference to be sure, but I think it’s an important one as the sentiment between the two is very different. The novice may put great faith into the validity of their Gantt Chart or Kanban Board. However, the seasoned practitioner, with experience of the myriad of unexpected things that can and do go wrong, will almost expect that things will not go as planned.