This episode explores the failures and controversies surrounding Neom, a futuristic city-state project in Saudi Arabia. Against the backdrop of ambitious plans and massive investment, the podcast reveals a dysfunctional environment characterized by the aggressive management style of Neom's CEO, Nadmi al-Nasser, whose methods included public berating and threats. More significantly, the episode highlights a pervasive culture of excessive spending, where the speed of money disbursement, rather than project effectiveness, became the primary metric for success. For instance, half a million dollars was allocated for an online leadership program, and sector heads faced pressure to spend hundreds of millions of dollars regardless of project feasibility. This led to the heavy reliance on consultants like McKinsey and PricewaterhouseCoopers, costing Neom hundreds of millions of dollars annually, while internal concerns about project costs and feasibility were often ignored or suppressed. Ultimately, the podcast portrays Neom as a project plagued by a "mutual dance of delusion," where executives shielded MBS from the realities of cost overruns and impractical designs, leading to Nadmi's eventual dismissal. What this means for mega-projects globally is that even with seemingly unlimited resources, poor management, unrealistic expectations, and a lack of transparency can lead to massive financial losses and ultimately, failure.
