Mentoring Around The Time-Value of Cyber Delivery

A good cyber leader wants to meet expectations of their executive team but a great cyber leader wants to consistently exceed their expectations. The smart cyber leader has a chance to do this consistently within the context of delivery.

So how do we mentor cyber leaders to consistently exceed expectations?  

First, we need to understand expecations in a delivery context. The underlying premise of the following approach is that, for a given complexity of a project that needs to be delivered, 100% of expected quality is delivered when a project is delivered on time. 

Your own expectations for delivery likely mirror those of executives. It’s only natural that expectations for quality would be very low and then rise rapidly as we approach some delivery date. 

For instance, you may be pleasantly surprised when you get something early. Deliver on time and that may just be “ok”.  If the project is delivered later than the delivery date, expectations might be significantly impacted and you may be thinking, “well, this better be darn good now”. 

 

So let’s look at one possible conceptual model for the time value of delivery. 

A in the graph represents some time value to get to a draft (from the view of the executive). The expectation of quality is low and there isn’t enough time to meet the quality requirements.  Anything delivered before point A would be a draft...at best.

B in the graph represents the sweet spot of early delivery. Assuming that quality expectations have been met, the project has been delivered early. This is where you can still exceed expectations with the same level of quality as the expected due date.

Why? The executive expectation for quality is already lower than 100%.    Additionally, if there are any external dependencies on the delivered project, there is value in lowering the stress around dependencies.Create exceptional deliverables with early deliverables and you'll really create something special.

C in the graph represents “on time delivery.” There is an expectation for quality at the level set by the project. Expectations can be exceeded here but only through exceptional value in the deliverables themselves.  There are nomally no time value benefits of on-time delivery. 

D in the graph represents “late delivery.” Since the delivery is late, executive expectations for quality may have actually raised while the value that they see in the delivery is diminished. Deliver late enough and executives might not see ANY value in the delivery. Also, this graph is from the perception of the executive.  If you are sandbagging and purposely set the due date beyond reason, the executive liely won’t see the expected value even in on time delivery. Obviously, it would be challenging to exceed expectations in either scenario.

The mentoring lesson here is that time is a resource that can have unsaid value in delivery. 

The delivered value rises with the project’s complexity and the number of external dependencies that the project resolves.  Consistently deliver great deliverables while expectations for quality are low and you’ll probably consistently exceed executive expectations. 

Exceeding expectations often leads to more trust and more resources.  

And that’s what great cyber leaders do.

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SEE ALSO

Cyber Leaders And Story Telling 

Foundational Cyber Security Work Items 

Mentoring Around Measuring Cyber Progress