‘It's not about power. It's about purpose. A leader's job is to inspire that purpose in others’ - Michelle Obama
When we got to the last phase of the program, the work looked very different from where we started. What had started as:
An undefined risk
With no clear ownership
And no coordinated response
Had become:
A structured program
With aligned leadership
And teams actively engaged in delivery.
But this is often when delivery feels most vulnerable. As momentum grows, so does the pressure. The real test then is: can you keep making progress when constraints begin to tighten?
Project 2: Where Structure Faced Reality
The second main focus, improving the legacy product, needed a different approach.
While Project 1 improved thanks to changes in team dynamics and self-organisation, this stream needed:
Tighter coordination
Clearer sequencing
And more deliberate tracking
So we set up a focused delivery team. It was a small, dedicated group supported by:
A Scrum Master who took on a project coordination role
Close collaboration with the architecture
And clear insight into both delivery tools and timeline planning. That wasn’t welcome.
We also supplemented Jira with MS Project to help everyone see the timeline more clearly. They immediately embraced. Many felt that adding more tools, especially MS Project, just meant extra work without much benefit. It was initially seen as:
Extra work
Duplicate effort
Something was removed from the ‘real’ delivery.
But then things started to change.
What Became Visible
As the plan came together, we noticed a gap in effort. Not in capability. But in flow.
The team had estimated the work well but what hadn’t been fully accounted for were the delays between steps:
A developer completes work… and it waits for testing
Testing completes… and it waits for review
Review completes… and it waits for deployment
Individually, these delays seemed minor. Collectively, they were significant.
Just as importantly, we didn’t see these delays until we started looking for them.
Why This Mattered
Without that visibility, we would have continued to:
Track effort
Monitor completion
And assume progress
All while losing time in the spaces between. MS Project didn’t just show us a timeline, it revealed a pattern we hadn’t seen before: systemic delay that could have pushed delivery beyond the deadline.
Once we could see the problem, we could manage it. People’s view of the tool changed quickly after that. From overhead… to insight.
Adapting Under Pressure
Halfway through delivery, we faced another challenge. An unexpected period of extended leave within a small, specialised team. No immediate backfill. Limited alternatives.
This is the moment when delivery plans really get tested. But in real life.
And at that point, there are only a few options:
Push harder
Add pressure
Or make adjustments
We chose to adapt.
Reframing Success
‘A leader's job is to create an environment where great ideas can happen’ - Steve Jobs
Instead of sticking to the original plan, we redefined success. Not in terms of features, but in terms of outcomes.
What was essential to maintain business continuity? What could be deferred? What constituted a viable, stable solution within the timeframe? This led to a clear decision:
Deliver a true MVP
Not as a compromise, but as a careful, intentional choice.
What This Made Possible
By narrowing focus:
The team maintained momentum.
The critical path remained intact, and our delivery stayed focused on what mattered mosted most.
At the same time, we worked closely with the business to:
Reset expectations
Agree on a phased continuation.
And ensure ongoing development beyond the deadline.
This wasn’t about lowering standards. It was about making sure we achieved the right outcome.
The Outcome
By the time the license expired, the organisation was prepared.
Critical dependencies had been addressed.
Business continuity was maintained.
Three streams were fully delivered.
One continued with an agreed extension.
And perhaps most significantly, the organisation avoided having to renew an expensive license that offered little value.
But Delivery Was Only Part of the Story
It would be easy to judge success only by what we delivered. But that would miss the real changes that happened. Because, alongside delivery, our capabilities grew in the Teams
Across the program, we saw:
Leaders are evolving their approach to managing and enabling teams.
Teams stepping into ownership, rather than waiting for direction.
Individuals found chances to lead, no matter their title.
Increased collaboration across roles and disciplines
And importantly, people became more confident in the organisation’s ability to handle complex delivery.
What Changed in the Environment
The conditions we created, both on purpose and in response to needs, made a difference:
Flexibility in how people worked
Space for teams to self-organise
Support for those willing to contribute more
Early experimentation with new practices and approaches
These changes weren’t official transformations, but they were meaningful changes. Shifts.
What Changed for Me
‘Leadership is not about being the best. It is about making everyone else better’ - Patrick Lencioni
Taking on the Acting CIO role in these circumstances could have turned out in many ways. Without visibility, without context, without a defined starting point.
But through experience, structured thinking, and by applying Agile principles in a practical way, we were able to surface risk early, align the organisation quickly, and deliver under pressure.
But what mattered most wasn’t just the outcome. It was the trust we built along the way. From peers, from teams, from leadership.
Returning to the Basics
Looking back, this wasn’t about following a specific framework.The alignment is clear:
Visibility over assumption
Outcomes over activity
Flow over effort
Ownership over awareness
Adaptation over rigidity
None of these ideas is new, but when things get tough, they make the difference between movement… and progress, activity… and delivery
A Final Thought
Leadership is often tested when the way forward isn’t clear. No handover, no roadmap, no certainty, just a situation that needs clarity, decisions, and action.
In those moments, it’s easy to look for answers. But the real work is something different.
It’s about creating the conditions where the right answers can come up
quickly enough to matter.
Series Close
Leading Without a Map has been a reflection on a real experience, not a perfect one, but a practical example of what happens when:
Ambiguity meets urgency
Risk meets accountability
And teams are given the space to step forward.