Target Canada — The Launch That Outran Reality

This opening episode introduces the Target Canada case, the major causes behind the failure, and the core themes of the season. It explains why this case matters to project managers: it was a major strategic initiative with compressed timelines, technology implementation challenges, data quality problems, supply chain breakdowns, weak readiness signals, and customer expectation gaps.The episode frames Target Canada as a project system, not merely a retail failure. It introduces the central idea of the season: the launch date became more real than operating reality.Key PM Questions:What assumptions were treated as facts? Where did urgency begin to overpower readiness? How should PMs listen for weak signals before failure becomes visible?