Learning Center / Operating an Outcome

Course 2 · Lesson 3 of 5

What it is blocked on

A client has not renewed. The account manager writes in the file: waiting on the client. Three weeks later the note still says waiting on the client, and nobody has done anything, because there is nothing in that sentence to do.

The same situation named precisely: *the client's finance director has to confirm the budget line before the signature; the request was sent on 4 March; no reply; her colleague says she returns on the 18th.* Now there is something to do on the 18th, and somebody owns it.

A blocker is a condition, not a complaint

The test for a well-named blocker is simple. It should be possible to state, in one sentence, what would have to change for the block to lift. Waiting on the client fails that test. *Waiting for a budget confirmation from a named person who is away until the 18th* passes it.

The short list of real blockers

In practice almost every blocked outcome stalls for one of these reasons:

• *Waiting on another person.* A signature, an approval, a reply. Always name the person and the request.
• *A missing document.* A certificate, a statement, a survey. Name which document and who holds it.
• *A decision nobody has taken.* The price, the date, the scope. A decision with no date attached is the slowest blocker there is.
• *A dependency.* Something else has to finish first. Name the other outcome.
• *Information that does not exist yet.* The number, the measurement, the answer. Name what would produce it.

An architect blocked on planning consent is not blocked by "the council". The council is a body with a case officer, a validation stage, a consultation window and a determination date. The architect is blocked at the validation stage, on one missing drainage drawing, which a named engineer can produce in a week.

Blockers stack

A blocked outcome usually has a chain rather than a single obstacle. The licence cannot be renewed until the identity check is done; the identity check needs a document; the document needs a certified copy; the certified copy needs an appointment.

The chain is useful, because it tells you where to push. Clearing the appointment removes the whole chain. Chasing the council removes nothing at all.

Constraint, and knowing the difference

A blocker can be lifted. A constraint cannot, and is a fact to design around.

A photographer whose client's legal team takes three weeks to return a signed release has a constraint. The three weeks are not negotiable, and no amount of chasing will shorten them. What can change is when the release is sent, which is why the release goes out at the start of a shoot rather than after the edits.

Treating a constraint as a blocker produces years of wasted chasing. Treating a blocker as a constraint produces lapsed renewals.

Chasing is not the same as unblocking

One more distinction, and it is the one that keeps blocked outcomes moving. Chasing sends another message. Unblocking changes the condition: an introduction to somebody who can decide, a replacement document, a decision taken by the person who owns the outcome, or a smaller version of the work that can proceed without the missing piece.

A blocked list where every entry has been chased and none has been unblocked is a list of work that is not happening. It is worth reading that list out loud once a month and asking, of each line, what would actually change it.