I have come to understand that life is all about managing expectations. Not setting them. Not meeting them. Managing them. It is futile to believe you can control the expectations of others. You may not even meet them (although things may come together and you blow them out of the water). What you can do, is set your own realistic expectations, communicate early and often with those who are affected, and then deliver with the goal of building a long-term, trusting relationship. The trust part is critical, as it is a good check-and-balance to make sure your expectations are informed by the requirements, assumptions, and standards of those who are depending on you. We often get into trouble that could have been easily avoided if we had just asked our stakeholders what they wanted to accomplish and then worked those into the goals what were set and accomplished.