The Delivery Gap

The most dangerous colour in a transformation isn't red. It's green. A board that's all green is not a board that's on track. It's a board that's stopped telling you the truth. Years ago I sat in a status review where every line was green. On track, on budget, on plan. I believed it, moved my attention to the fires that were actually burning, and looked away. Under one of those green lines sat a decision nobody had made. Only deferred. Someone had dressed up "we haven't decided this yet" as "this is handled", and the colour let everyone stop looking. By the time it broke into the open, months later, it had grown teeth. I'd taken green to mean done. It doesn't mean done. The programmes that actually deliver aren't the ones with the most green. They're the ones willing to show red early, and to cancel almost nothing late. What you'll take away The line. Green isn't the colour of progress. It's the colour of a deferred decision. The tell. Every line on the dashboard green, and everyone around the table talking in anecdotes rather than decisions. The question. If you stopped announcing for one quarter, what would you actually finish? And on your greenest programme, when did someone last show red? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.builttoabsorb.com