Accidental Learning is the best

I was struggling with defining the challenges of the project.

It was not risk, it was not people, it was not technology. For the first time in several years, I was stumped for a solution.

I stumbled on a talk given by Daniel Goleman on his new book "Focus". In the middle of the talk, he mentions a certain class of problems as "wicked problems". And a series of linked wicked problems is a "mess".

That pointed me to the solution as well. I realized, after framing my project as a wicked problem, it's solution.

You have one of two options, authoritative or collaborative approach to such problems. I had been using the collaborative approach in a charged atmosphere under tight time constraints. 

It is the authoritative approach that finally worked.