Making And Securing Commitments

Fundamental to the success of Lean Integrated Delivery is the willingness and ability of all Participants to make and secure reliable Commitments as the basis for planning and executing the Program of Action.

In a Zero Blame Environment in which All elements are optimizing for Throughput of the Goal, everyone, both those who Secure A Commitment, and those who Make A Commitment, are 100% jointly responsible for the outcome and its affect on the Whole.

In order for a Commitment to be reliable, the following elements should be present:

1. The Conditions of Satisfaction are clear to both the Committor and the Committee
2. The Committor is capable and competent to perform the task
3. The Committor understands where their work fits in the Critical Chain, and how the Quality of their Activity affects the Successor Activities
4. The Committor has access to all other required competence, tools, and resources required to perform the task
5. The Committor has estimated the Time required to perform the task, has internally allocated adequate resources, and has Blocked Time on its internal schedule
6. The Committor is sincere in the moment that the Commitment is made - only making the Commitment if there is no current basis for believing that the Commitment cannot or will not be fulfilled
7. The Committor is prepared to accept the reasonable consequences that may ensue if the Commitment cannot be performed as promised, and will promptly advise the IPD Team if confidence is lost that the task can be performed as promised
8. The Committee is prepared to accept the reasonable consequences if they accept and depend upon a Commitment that is not performed as promised. In a No Blame Environment, the Committee is jointly responsible for ensuring that it does not secure or rely upon unreliable Commitments
9. The work is Constraint Free, meaning that it is in the sole purview and authority of the Committor to accomplish, with no external dependencies that are out of the Committors direct influence or control

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