[From "Rapid Development" by Steve McConnell]
"If you want a safe bet, go to Las Vegas and play the slot machines. The casinos have figured the odds carefully..."
"If Las Vegas sounds too tame for you, software might be just the right gamble. Software projects include a glut of risks that would give Vegas oddsmakers nightmares -- shifting user requirements, poor schedule estimates, unreliable contractors, management inexperience, personnel problems, bleeding-edge technology failures, changing government regulations, and performance shortfalls -- just to name a few. The odds of a large project finishing on time are close to zero. The odds of a large project being canceled are an even-money bet (Jones 191)."
"... if you don't manage risks, you will not achieve rapid development. As Tom Gilb says, 'If you don't actively attack the risks, they will actively attack you.' "