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SPARK Method™ Foundation Course

Know Your Enemy: The 10 Killers Most Project Managers Never See Coming

Stop treating symptoms. Start diagnosing Killers. A self-paced course that teaches you the basics to recognize all 10 IT Project Killers, tell a symptom from a root cause, and build the daily detection practice that catches trouble weeks before it becomes a crisis.

Self-paced · 8 modules Immediate access on enrollment Taught by Dr. Martin Moss SPARK Method™ Foundation Certificate
Price
$497 USD
Enrollment Opens Soon Join the waitlist for launch updates →
In the meantime
Download the Free White Paper →
What's Included
Full SPARK Method™ Foundation Course — all 8 modules
80-page PDF workbook, printable
The daily Killer detection practice (Module 7)
Lifetime access — revisit any module at any time
SPARK Method™ Foundation Certificate on completion
FOUNDATION500 voucher toward any Deep Dive Course

"Your project is struggling. Decisions are slow. The team seems engaged but nothing really moves. You are managing tasks, tracking progress — and the project still drags."

You are looking at symptoms — slow decisions, disengaged teams, a project that moves but never quite arrives. The Killers producing those symptoms stay invisible until you know exactly what to look for.

The average window between a Killer activating and becoming a visible crisis is 6–8 weeks. This course teaches you to use that window, not lose it.

Nobody remembers the PM who delivered on time. Everyone remembers the PM whose project failed. This course is a career investment.

What You Will Be Able to Do

Capabilities You Have After This Course That You Do Not Have Now

The starting capabilities. The Deep Dive Courses build them into mastery.

✓
Name and recognize all 10 IT Project Killers by their specific symptoms — not just a general sense that something is wrong
✓
Apply the daily Killer detection practice to any live project immediately after Module 7
✓
Distinguish between a symptom and a root cause — the most important diagnostic skill in the entire framework
✓
Identify which Killers are most active in your specific project and know which ones demand immediate attention
✓
Gather evidence from three sources — documents, observations, interviews — instead of relying on impressions alone
✓
Know which Deep Dive Course to take first, based on your own project situation, not a generic recommendation
What You Take Away

Five Tools You Build While You Work Through the Course

01
Project Reality Diagnosis
An honest, structured picture of where your project actually stands — not where it looks like it stands on paper.
02
Killer Identification Report
A first analysis of which Killers may be active in your project, their danger level, and whether they're combining.
03
Evidence Collection Matrix
A structured way to gather and triangulate evidence across documents, observations, and interviews — your standard tool going forward.
04
Project Health Check
Score your project against all 10 Killer indicators. A living document you update weekly to track direction, not just current state.
05
Your Deep Dive Roadmap
A personal plan based on your own Killer assessment, showing which Deep Dive Course to take first and why.
Course Structure

What the Course Covers — All 8 Modules

Phase 1 — Understand the Landscape
MOD 1
Why IT Projects Fail — And Why It Is Never About the Technology Alone
The reframe that changes how you see every project you will ever work on. The 10 IT Project Killers introduced and placed in context.
MOD 2
The SPARK Method™ Framework — Locating Yourself in the System
The five SPARK pillars explained. Where the Foundation Course sits, and how it connects to everything that follows.
Phase 2 — Know the Enemy
MOD 3
Meet the 10 IT Project Killers
All 10 Killers by name, by possible symptoms, and by danger level — and why they hunt in combinations.
MOD 4
The Symptom-Cause Framework — Diagnosing Root Causes
How to read the early warning signs and tell a symptom from what's actually causing it. The module where 11 of 14 beta participants identified an active Killer in their live project within 48 hours.
Phase 3 — Build Your Evidence
MOD 5
The Three Evidence Sources — Documents, Observations, Interviews
Why one source is never enough, and how to triangulate between all three to confirm what's really happening.
MOD 6
Killer Combinations
Why Killers working together are exponentially more dangerous than any single Killer alone — and how to spot the combination early.
Phase 4 — Deploy Your Detection System
MOD 7
The Daily Killer Detection Practice
The practical tool you take away and apply immediately. A repeatable daily practice that builds diagnostic skill over time.
MOD 8
Your Deep Dive Roadmap
Build your personal 90-day plan and choose your next Deep Dive Course based on your specific project situation — crisis, friction, or prevention.

"The Foundation Course is a survey course. It gives you the map. The Deep Dive Courses give you the tools to change the territory."

This course teaches the diagnostic language — the Killer names, the symptom patterns, the root-cause thinking — so you can recognize what's happening in a project. The three Deep Dive Courses are where you build the motivational environment, sustain it under pressure, and detect Killers early enough to act. The Foundation Course is the entry point. It is not the destination.

See the Deep Dive Courses →
11 of 14

Foundation beta participants identified an active IT Project Killer in their live project within 48 hours of completing Module 4.

Not after finishing the full course. Not after weeks of practice. Within 48 hours of a single module. That happens when a framework matches the patterns that are already present in real projects.

Is This the Right Course for You?

This Course Is the Right Next Step If…

You manage projects and want to catch problems before they escalate.
The Foundation Course adds a specific diagnostic capability: recognizing the human patterns that quietly determine whether a project succeeds — early enough to still act on them.
You are currently managing a project that feels unstable and you cannot name exactly why.
The Killer detection framework gives you the language and the method to diagnose what is happening in a live project, right now. Most students identify at least one active Killer by Module 4 — and knowing what it is changes everything about how you respond.
You have been through a project that did not deliver as planned and you want to make sure it does not happen again.
The Foundation Course teaches you to see the patterns before they build — not after the damage is done. The dynamics that derail projects are visible weeks before they become crises. This course teaches you to read those signs early enough to act.
You are ambitious about your career and want to be the PM who reliably delivers under pressure.
One project successfully steered through a difficult period is worth many times the cost of this course. The SPARK Method™ is a career investment that compounds with every project you run afterward.
Foundation Graduates

Complete the Course — Get $500 Off a Deep Dive

FOUNDATION500

Finish the Foundation Course and apply voucher code FOUNDATION500 within 90 days of completion to take $500 off any Deep Dive Course enrollment. The Foundation Course is the entry point. The Deep Dives are where the real depth begins.

Dr. Martin Moss
Your Instructor

The Foundation Course is taught by Dr. Martin Moss — the person who built the SPARK Method™ from 20+ years of being called into failing IT projects. The framework and the person who developed it, in the same place.

Learn more about Dr. Martin Moss →

The Foundation Course. $497.

Self-paced. Immediate access once enrollment opens. The complete framework for detecting and stopping all 10 IT Project Killers — taught by the person who built it.

Download the Free White Paper →

Enrollment opens soon — join the waitlist →

Not sure which course is right for you? Download the free Pathfinder →