Something I’ve become much more aware of is how easily a person can become the link between otherwise capable tools, teams or processes. The actual work might be progressing, but someone still has to remember what was decided, notice when an earlier assumption has changed, and carry that information to wherever it is needed next.
I’ve caught myself doing this repeatedly while trying to organise several different pieces of work. Sometimes the issue isn’t that information has disappeared. It’s there, just not in the place where the next decision is being made, or it’s no longer clear which version should be trusted. The result is that I end up checking, explaining or reconstructing something that has already been worked through.
It’s tempting to respond by adding another checklist, tracker or tool. I’m not convinced that always solves the problem. It might simply create another place that needs to be kept up to date. The more useful question seems to be whether we’ve made it clear where a decision lives, what changes it and how the next person or process knows that something has changed.
I’m still working through this in practice, but it’s changed what I pay attention to. When the same handoff keeps depending on someone remembering to do it, I try to look at the design of the work rather than asking that person to be more diligent.