I have been in the I.T industry for 6 years, but saw at least 3 failed projects (not my fault :cool.

But bad management, no VERY BAD management. Second company I joined had a product. The specs changed each day, (the little piece of paper with hand drawing was the spec). The client "managed" the project scope etc. There were no "set" specs, they would change each time by the client. So while you worked on 1 page, 2 pages would come back for changes bec the client wanted the changes (and the deadline still stayed the same).

We had to work overtime, weekends to make "deadlines"/changes (and the project wasn't even near completion). So after 3 months at the company I and another programmer left. Last time I heard the company went bankrupt..

3rd company I joined managed to get a big contract for a rewrite of an application. They told the client , 1 YEAR. After the year, we were only 17% complete. but management wanted to go by the "book". We had to have 5 layers before you reach the database. Took you about 4 times longer to code 1 page than normal 3 tier development. When we mentioned this to management, they told us to STFU it was promised to client and we must deliver

1 year later...

Now I sit in the almost the same position again . Boss can code a little, so he thinks EVERYTHING is possible. You can design a system that let BUSINESS USERS "code".. without coding, but they can still code . Again NO Specs, each meeting with the boss he adds new "features" (which he sees on the internet).  I can see the red flags already, and I'm already thinking about jumping ship, because I can see only problems (and I'm a very positive person by nature).