Establish mechanisms to align complex delivery

Without a centralised cadence that backs delivery and aligns teams, the ability to deliver on complex programs suffers because the timing of key activities remains out of sequence between teams resulting in delays and bottlenecks.

Determine the cost of change 

Although we want to and need to be able to change direction or approach, the cost of doing so needs to be tracked and visibly reported. Change is not free and not reporting the impact reinforces a chop and change philosophy.

Progressive elaboration 

Preliminary estimates are generally considered final by stakeholders - and for good reason. All too often, delivery teams provide point-value estimates without error ranges and fail to outline considerations that will drive scope at later stages of the program. Given knowledge grows with time, effort is almost always under-estimated and as a result, teams end up overcommitting and under-delivering.

Manage and forecast capacity

Teams with very high levels of interdependency typically struggle to
estimate and manage their capacity bandwidths. Tragically, teams will often  start work with a complicit acceptance that
they will have to deal with the consequences of extended or missed timelines later. And they do.