Society · Coordination
ResourceShapeSeparation
Predict resources over the long range, and leave the shape of the work free to follow short-range information
Definition
Mechanism
A plan such as a Gantt chart merges two different predictions: how much resource the work will need, and exactly which tasks will use it, when and in what order. The first can be forecast accurately over the long range, like total rainfall for a month. The second is like which days it will rain: it is best decided close to the moment, on reliable short-range information, to collect the InformationDividend. Fixing both up front locks in ShapeControl and also fails at its own aim: the more teams a rigid schedule needs at fixed times, the higher its Laterality and the more certain that some team will be unavailable when needed, so the 'irresistible force' of the plan meets the 'immovable object' of an operational constraint. Separate the two: commit to resource forecasts, keep task order and timing open within them, and communicate priorities as options rather than fixed slots.
Invariants
- Long-range commitments concern resources, not the detailed order of tasks
- Task choices are taken as late as reliable short-range information allows
- Forecast accuracy and flexibility of shape are not in conflict
Risks
Failure modes
Locking the schedules of many teams to fixed dates, so the plan fails at its own goal of securing resources
Treating flexibility as a sign of poor forecasting
Over-planning detail that does not affect resource needs
Relationships
Builds on
References
Mind
The payoff from changing shape to exploit reliable short-term information, which exists even when the long-range forecast is entirely correct
The number of functional units that must coordinate for an action to happen; the more units, the less likely it happens
Mind
Keeping an organisation, model or trajectory close to a desired form or target, with information serving that form
Used by
References
Let scope move in and out of a project in balance, so the resource forecast stays intact while the delivered value rises
A project plan that records live options, their decision points and activation costs, and updates their value as the project proceeds, instead of a fixed sequence of tasks