This paper aims to contribute to the research on dealing with unexpected events and crises by revealing and connecting organizational conditions and personal behavioral patterns and skills which help project managers cope with these types of events. This exploratory study uses an interpretative approach in a series of semi-structured interviews with the manager who helped bring a project that was interrupted for eight years to a successful conclusion. We reveal and connect organizational conditions and individual behavioral patterns that help managers cope with the unexpected. A unique way of interacting with stakeholders was found to be an important factor in the success of the project that is the object of this research. The study implies the importance of specific organizational conditions to exist in an organization in order to enable behavioral patterns that help coping with unexpected events.