Isn't this the purpose of pre-defined success/failure requirements? This project shall be deemed a success when these criteria are met and a failure when these requirements are met.

 To be fair, I've never been on a project that has actually had failure requirements and I have been on projects that have run over budget or gone over time etc.

  When a project is important enough, and most seem to be when they are started, then the idea of failure is at the back of one's mind, although failing to plan is planning to fail.

 There is also the Macintosh idea — nobody remembers a poor product and nobody forgets a late product. it doesn't really matter how usable the product is, release it when promised and improve it with each iteration. Although it was released early in 1984, it didn't really become useful until the advent of the Mac Plus in 1986. The 2 previous versions were essentially beta-versions. Indeed, one could hurl that accusation at Microsoft for a few of their features.