I would say depends but I would also tend towards failure. Working in industry, I have learned you cannot miss a deadline. I have worked 11-12 hours and weekend to make sure the deadlines are met. According to me, missing a milestone is definitely, a failure. I mean yes, you have to work your butt off to finish your work, but i guess that’s why you are getting that check. So if you’re not meeting you deadlines, it is 100% your fault. I have worked with pharmas so if you dont meet the deadline for your project, it will be hard for the next phase to start and they will miss the deadline too.