Intent Integrity

Organizations deliver change successfully and still fail at what it was for.

Projects close on time, on budget, and within scope, then the outcomes that justified them never arrive. Direction and execution are different problems.

The concept

Intent integrity is the quality and continuity of the reasoning that connects a change's intent, direction, execution, outcomes, and learning throughout its lifecycle.

This is not explained by weak execution alone. An organization can execute well in the wrong direction, and delivery governance will still report success.

Where intent is lost, and protected

The Intent Gap explains where intent is lost. The Intent Loop explains how it is protected across the lifecycle.

• The Intent GapDecision gap and execution gap: different causes, different responses.
• The Intent LoopFour stages, each with a vulnerability and a protective practice.

1. 01Decision qualityDecision: Define what is worth achieving, and choose how to pursue it.
2. 02Tracing intentExecution: Keep the work connected to the reasoning that justified it.
3. 03Outcome validationOutcome: Test what actually happened against what the change was for.
4. 04Evolving the organizationEvolution: Turn what this change taught you into how the next one is run.