Can Your Program Bend Without Breaking?

Insight: Policy landscapes shift - but delivery doesn’t have to stall.

Change is a given.

New mandates, leadership transitions, and evolving community needs can rewrite the path forward overnight.

In practice, shifts look like this:

• A department adds a new quarterly indicato; field teams must redesign data capture mid-year.
• A budget re-profile moves funds between programs; delivery milestones need re-sequencing.
• Updated guidance changes eligibility rules; partners must retrain front-line staff while keeping service levels steady.

It's not about resisting change. The opportunity is building delivery approaches resilient enough to adjust without losing progress.

That’s why we use Adaptive Execution - grounded in our delivery principles of designing for real conditions, making delivery relational, and working with feedback loops so teams can adjust without losing progress.

Insight in Practice: Adaptive Execution

Adaptive Execution gives you a delivery structure that can absorb new direction without forcing you to start over. It focuses on how you deliver, not just what you deliver.

Three moves to embed adaptability in your program from the start:

1. Anchor in purpose, then adjust the plan.
   Define the outcomes that need to stay the same. Map new directives to those outcomes before revising scope and tasks.‍
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2. Keep decision-making close to delivery.
   Delegate decisions to the  delivery team with pre-agreed guardrails, so small changes don't queue for senior approval.‍
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3. Schedule “change checkpoints.”
   Every 4-6 weeks, reassess assumptions, risks, and resource mix; re-prioritize work to protect traction.

Quick start (first 72 hours after a shift):

• Re-state outcomes that remain constant
• List what's now in/out scope for the next 4-6 weeks
• Empower the delivery lead to approve day-to-day adjustments with guardrails

Question to Consider

Where can we add flexibility to our current delivery plan without losing focus?

Quote of The Week

"Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change."
— Stephen Hawking