Evergreen Evaluation & Consulting, Inc. is a mid-size evaluation firm with a client base that spans programs supported by the Departments of Education (Office of Special Education Programs) and Health and Human Services (SAMHSA Safe Schools/Healthy Students). For each of these programs, principal investigators are required to address specific Government Performance and Results Act measures. As these programs become more competitive, project leads take different approaches to ensure they meet their targets. Sometimes, these methods are unethical and in violation of AEA’s Guiding Principles. Other times, the pressure of demonstrating success encourages unhealthy dynamics and unrealistic expectations among managers. This presentation will describe three challenging situations which impacted external evaluation efforts and the strategies applied to remedy them. These included clients who: 1) wanted to micro-manage the evaluation, 2) altered our report findings, and 3) suffered from dysfunctional social dynamics and technical assistance issues with the funder.