This presentation examines the art of recovering from the aspects of preconceived ideas, limited database-derived opinions, and attempts to make a tough situation into a positive asset. The area of the talk is the Wolfcamp “Z” in Lea County, NM and involves a 4-well pad. Proxy-based scientific studies were used to understand the stress environment along the lateral, matched with area historic values. The toe-prep breakdown was not revealing of the problems that evolved in the first few stages. To solve the problems and successfully complete the two Wolfcamp “Z” wells, while not abandoning the projects, a whole new solution was developed in real time. The solution was rather complex and ultimately abandoned the initial premises, but it worked, and no further issues continued. Nevertheless, the original conditions remained consistent along the laterals. The talk will illustrate the problem, the data that aided in the solution, and offer a workflow to guide the viewer in solving similar issues.