You must take time to smell the roses. For your work, you must take time to understand the consequences of your actions. The boss may not know how to do the work but he has to know what he wants. The boss had better find out what he expects and wants if he doesn t know. A blind leader tends to go in circles.
Luck still plays a part in success or failure but luck favors the competent hard working manager.
Never try to get even for some slight by anyone on the project. It is not good form and it puts you on the same level as the other person and, besides, probably ends up hurting the project getting done. You should cultivate an attitude on the project where your personnel know they can tell you of wrong decisions. A manager who is his own systems engineer or financial manager is one who will probably try to do open heart surgery on himself.