The Holman Expectation Curve

I posted this on Iowa Biz over a year ago, but I think it's worth revisiting.  One of my colleagues, Lyle Holman, created what he calls the Holman Expectation Curve of Project Management.  At the beginning of every project, fantasy is very high and reality is low.  The two start creeping toward each other as time progresses throughout the project life cycle until they collide in an uncomfortable moment referred to as the OMG point, followed very closely by the "Come to Jesus" meeting (CTJ).

One corollary I added to Lyle's insights is the maturity of timing.  A mature organization will have the OMG early in the project life cycle (i.e., the initiation or planning phases).  A less mature project culture will wait until potentially the closing phase before having this epiphany that what was promised is not what is going to be delivered.

I posed this question to my project management students last week, but I'll let you in on the fun:  how do you expedite the OMG for your project and your organization?  Having frank discussions all along help... and having them frequently (because sometimes - just sometimes - executives don't listen the first time you tell them something... go figure).

So what do you think?