What started as a quick integration fix became a full-blown crisis touching every department, every system, and every leader. In this episode, Rebecca and Doug Hall break down the tangled web of "Project Peppa"—a cautionary tale of bad data, systemic failures, and how leadership steers through chaos.

Doug shares how a data integration failure triggered a Priority Zero incident, forcing manual executive call trees in the middle of the night and how that emergency led to uncovering systemic issues spanning HR, facilities, IT, legal, finance, and beyond. Through wit, personal experiences, and wisdom, Rebecca and Doug walk us through crisis leadership, stakeholder alignment, and the tough calls behind real digital transformation.

Whether you're a project leader, CIO, or IT stakeholder, this episode is provides lessons on resilience, data governance, and the real cost of ignoring infrastructure problems.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:36 Project "Peppa": The Unexpected Challenge

01:39 The Crisis Unfolds

04:39 Systemic Issues and Data Quality

07:38 The Complexity of Data Integration

11:41 Stakeholder Management and Solutions

16:59 Data Governance and Ownership

26:39 Project Outcomes and Reflections

Check out more episodes of Resilient Foundations:

Inside a $135B Crisis: https://youtu.be/XrYFesIn3M8

How Leaders Make Decisions Under Pressure: https://youtu.be/41wc9aghTSk

What Makes a Situation High Stakes? https://youtu.be/Gpudb3kWhkE

Leader who drives strategy, execution, and change | Transformational Delivery and Operations Leader | Information Security & Technology Executive | Risk Management Expert

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

Send a Message - rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

Bad status reporting is a leading cause of high-stakes situations and project failures in any organization. This episode of Resilient Foundations explains why leaders are often blindsided by problems, not because of new issues, but due to delayed or inaccurate information. Rebecca outlines how poor reporting is typically a systems, leadership, and culture problem, rather than a failing of individuals.

She offers advice on creating a safe environment for teams to report risks early, understanding the critical difference between green, yellow, and red statuses, and modeling effective communication. Learn how to identify underlying reasons for inaccurate status, implement clear criteria, focus on key metrics, foster collaboration, and avoid going from green directly to crisis mode. Help improve your organization's resilience and project success by mastering transparent and timely status updates.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:00 Introduction to Bad Status Reporting

01:20 The Impact of Poor Reporting

01:59 Identifying Risks Early

04:20 Encouraging Honest Reporting

04:51 Optimism vs. Pessimism in Reporting

05:33 Defining Status Criteria

08:24 Granularity and Key Indicators

09:35 Protecting Relationships in Reporting

14:45 Leadership's Role in Reporting

22:35 Conclusion and Next Steps

Check out more episodes of Resilient Foundations:

Inside a $135B Crisis: https://youtu.be/XrYFesIn3M8

How Leaders Make Decisions Under Pressure: https://youtu.be/41wc9aghTSk

What Makes a Situation High Stakes? https://youtu.be/Gpudb3kWhkE

Leader who drives strategy, execution, and change | Transformational Delivery and Operations Leader | Information Security & Technology Executive | Risk Management Expert

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

Send a Message - rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

They had board approval to take down a Fortune 50 website for 20 minutes and people inside the company were literally taking bets it wouldn't come back.

In this episode of Resilient Foundations, Rebecca and Doug break down the leadership, risk decisions, and technical innovation that made a 300M-row migration and 300-app cutover land in 17 minutes with zero defects. They explain how the team handled 1M transactions per minute, built a strategy for capturing and replaying live traffic, and even created an innovative multi-threading approach to keep up with the migration load.

Beyond the tech, the episode is a masterclass in leadership: stakeholder alignment from day one, daily tradeoff negotiations, risk sign-offs, scripted rehearsals like a Broadway show, and the culture of trust that helped a "storming" team perform at an all-star level.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:38 Overview of the Massive Data Migration Project

01:08 Challenges and Complexities of the Project

03:49 Stakeholder Management and Lessons Learned

05:25 Innovations and Key Highlights

08:19 High-Stakes Moments and Risk Management

13:46 Technical Execution and Multithreading Innovation

17:01 Testing in Production and Unexpected Discoveries

22:30 Rehearsing the Cutover

26:49 Overcoming Logistical Challenges

27:24 Aligning Business and Technical Goals

30:18 The Big Bang Theory Decision

34:11 Team Dynamics and Personal Growth

46:12 Successful Project Execution

48:42 Reflecting on the Journey

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

Send a Message: rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

Channel: www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

AI is changing the game for cybersecurity, but are most companies ready?

In this eye-opening episode of Resilient Foundations, Rebecca sits down with cybersecurity expert and SANS Institute instructor Shawn Chakravarty to unpack the evolving threat landscape in a world powered by artificial intelligence. From the rise of "shadow AI" to how insiders and external attackers are weaponizing generative tools like ChatGPT and Claude, this conversation is packed with hard truths and advice for leaders, security teams, and innovators alike.

Shawn breaks down the top three AI risks every company should be tracking, how defensive teams need to adapt, and why your AI policy matters more than ever. Whether you're a business leader, IT manager, or just AI-curious, this episode delivers urgent suggestions to future-proof your cybersecurity strategy.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

01:04 Current Cybersecurity Threats

01:51 Top Risks in AI and Cybersecurity

02:44 Shadow AI and Security Policies

05:26 AI in Blue Teaming and Defense

06:50 Red Teaming and AI Tools

09:03 AI in Social Engineering

14:26 Leadership and AI Risk Management

20:58 The Importance of Listening as a Leader

21:58 Celebrating Wins and Handling Mistakes

22:41 Managing High-Stress Situations

24:18 Building Trust Within Teams

25:28 Unique Challenges in Security Leadership

29:29 The Role of AI in Leadership

36:02 Upcoming Events and Learning Opportunities

37:32 Final Thoughts

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

More Info

View Email: rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

Channel: www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Failure is inevitable in leadership. Missed calls, projects that implode, decisions made under pressure that don't land the way you hoped. What determines your credibility, trust, and confidence isn't whether you fail, it's how you recover.

In this episode of Resilient Foundations, we break down the four critical stages of leadership recovery after failure. You'll learn why teams don't expect perfection, how unmanaged emotions and nervous system reactions derail trust, and what intentional recovery actually looks like in action. Whether you're an executive navigating public failure, a business owner carrying the emotional weight of a setback, or a middle manager stuck in cleanup mode, this episode is a guide to rebuild trust, regain momentum, and lead forward with confidence. Failure will happen. Recovery is where leadership is proven.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:00 Introduction to Resilient Leadership

00:25 Embracing Failure as a Leader

01:22 The Impact of Failure on Leaders

03:28 Stage One: Stabilizing Yourself

05:12 Stage Two: Naming the Reality

06:25 Stage Three: Repairing Trust Intentionally

08:20 Stage Four: Resetting Direction

10:47 Conclusion: Turning Failure into Opportunity

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

More Info

View Email: rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

Channel: www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

What does it take to lead a project that could make (or break) a $135 billion payments platform?

In this episode of Resilient Foundations, Rebecca welcomes back longtime colleague Doug Hall, who led Project Maui, a high-stakes security overhaul critical to maintaining PCI compliance across 35 million merchants. Failure wasn't an option: missing the upgrade deadline would have meant losing the ability to process credit card transactions entirely.

Doug takes us behind the scenes of this three-year security initiative, revealing the organizational chaos, technological complexity, and leadership demands involved. From identifying 3,000+ unknown API endpoints to breaking integrations on purpose (yes, on purpose) to uncover legacy risk, this conversation goes deep into what it really takes to lead at scale, under pressure, with humor, grit, and relentless curiosity.

Whether you're in technology, compliance, or leading change in a large organization, this one is filled with lessons to learn from.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction

00:31 Overview of Project Maui

01:36 Challenges and Key Highlights

02:46 Technical Innovations and Team Dynamics

04:48 Defining Success and Overcoming Obstacles

08:16 Subject Matter Experts and Team Collaboration

13:44 Legacy Infrastructure and Smoke Testing

20:12 Customer Facing Challenges and Merchant Integrations

23:00 Teamwork and Challenges

23:56 Executive Involvement

26:58 Security Risks and Testing

29:28 Leadership Qualities for Large Projects

33:33 AI in Project Management

38:02 Closing Thoughts

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

More Info

View Email: rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

Channel: www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

In this brutally honest debrief episode of Resilient Foundations, Rebecca and colleague, Doug Hall revisit a project (Project Jaguar) that looked promising on paper, but turned into a lesson in leadership, requirements, and reality. If you've ever thought "just plug it in" is a solution, this one's for you.

Despite best intentions, a rockstar team, and intense executive oversight, the final result didn't meet business needs. Why? From misplaced assumptions to missing requirements and underestimating internal politics, they dissect the pain points that turned a promising upgrade into a cautionary tale. Along the way, they discuss the dangers of adopting off-the-shelf software without proper due diligence, the perils of "it's just a tech project" thinking, and the irreplaceable value of honest leadership, humor, and team trust. Whether you're in tech, project management, or executive leadership, this episode is a "what not to do" and how to lead through it anyway.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:00 Introduction to Resilient Foundations

00:36 Project Jaguar Overview

01:38 Challenges and Low Points

02:25 Top Three Issues

05:27 Vendor and Customization Issues

07:02 Leadership and Change Management

16:49 Lessons in Transparency and Integrity

23:58 Balancing Scope, Cost, and Quality

24:26 Creating a Collaborative Team Environment

26:29 Consensus Building and Negotiation

27:59 The Importance of Adaptability in Technology Projects

29:35 Lessons from Project Failures

35:23 The Buy vs. Build Dilemma

38:45 The Value of Asking Questions

41:29 The Role of Humor in High-Stress Projects

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

More Info

View Email: rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

Channel: www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

When teams stall, argue, or miss deadlines, it's rarely about talent, it's about unclear roles. In this episode OF Resilient Foundations, Rebecca unpacks the underestimated power of role clarity and how it transforms teams from reactive to resilient, especially when the stakes are high.

From everyday operations to high-pressure crises, a lack of clarity around "who owns what" can stall momentum, fuel blame, and drain trust. Rebecca breaks down the three levels of role clarity: macro, operational, and crisis, and shows how leaders can diagnose confusion, streamline decision-making, and build frameworks that reduce friction and elevate accountability. With practical tools like the DACI model, stand-up strategies, and role audits, this episode equips you to lead with precision and build teams that thrive under pressure.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:00 Introduction to Role Clarity in Leadership

00:19 The Importance of Role Clarity

02:31 Identifying Role Clarity Issues

03:47 Types of Role Clarity

09:03 Implementing Role Clarity Frameworks

12:48 Daily and Weekly Role Clarity Practices

15:35 Conclusion

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

More Info

View Email: rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

Channel: www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.