Line of Sight

The question that kept coming up across different conversations this week — a commercial review, two DSIT sessions, a supplier call — was the same one in different clothes: can you actually see what's connected to what?

The commercial review surfaced a gap I recognise from most programmes at this stage: risks and issues captured but floating free, not connected to milestones or outcomes. So when someone asks if something's going to affect the timeline, the honest answer is "I'd have to go and check." That's a spreadsheet-shaped drawer of bad news, not delivery intelligence. I've asked the cluster leads to start reviewing their risks against deliverables — next week we connect those to the milestone and OBO layer.

The DSIT work covered a NewCo/Customer First discovery kicking off on NHS appointments consolidation — six weeks, core question being why adoption doesn't move at scale rather than whether the tech works — and a Wayfinder acceleration session on prioritisation, funding flexibility and clinical sponsorship. Right level of conversation.

New DG in post. Reminded me of John Quinn — didn't flinch at the difficult Q&A questions. Useful early signal.

Been reading The Gap and the Gain and Mastery this week. Greene argues mastery isn't talent — it's time and intense focus, and the Creative-Active phase means experimenting boldly rather than waiting until something's polished enough to share. Sullivan's point is that progress is easy to miss once it becomes normal; in delivery we spend most of our time in the gap, measuring against what isn't done yet, and forget to look at how far things have actually moved. Both landed.

Linked notes

Lesson learned

A risk register not connected to milestones is just a filing cabinet. Building the connection — filterable by team, outcome, milestone — is the work.