Field Notes

The False Win: When the Metric Improves and the Company Gets Weaker
A better metric can hide a worse operating model. Product-path progress requires both a business result and a durable improvement in capability. Read more...
The System Works Because a Person Is Holding It Together
Some of the most important parts of an enterprise system are people quietly compensating for what the formal system cannot do. Read more...
Inventory Is Not Availability
A number on a screen can be true and still be unusable as a customer promise. Availability is assembled from state, time, rules, commitments, and confidence. Read more...
One Successful Outcome Is Not a Capability
A company can force an outcome once through attention, custom work, and heroics. That proves possibility. It does not prove capability. Read more...
When the Product Requires a Company That Doesn't Exist Yet
The hardest product problem in a mature company is often not defining the product. It is changing what the company is capable of doing next. Read more...