A wave release slips or a stage gate fails, and the board wants answers. Often they want them before you know what went wrong. The first 20 days after that moment decide whether the programme settles or slides further off course.
In our experience, four triggers cause most turbulence. Each comes with an instinctive response that feels right at the time and usually makes things worse.
| The trigger | The instinctive response |
| Wave releases slipping | Replan, add people and publish new dates |
| Data loads failing | Run more loads and stretch the testing window |
| Budget under challenge | Cut scope and defer functionality |
| Scope creeping | Add checkpoints and more reporting |
Our three-page guide explains why each response backfires, how to find the real cause, and how to build a recovery plan your board will trust.
Take the budget trigger. Cutting scope under pressure, without an independent view, can remove the very functionality the business case depends on. The damage often only shows at go-live.
"When you are under pressure, you can very quickly remove the wrong things,"
Our three-page guide covers:
Why each instinctive response backfires, and what usually sits underneath each trigger
How to separate the event that raised the alarm from its real cause
The three parts of a recovery plan your board will trust