Execution
Hours by the Minute
Execution is the lived motion of the hourglass. It is not a single action or a single volley of work. Execution is the work of a bounded interval representing a communicated orchestration of multiple missions advancing forward together to reach what was committed to. It is the moment where everything that happened prior is supporting the success of this moment. In many situations, the exact mechanisms of how are understood only through the work itself. The iteration sets the boundaries and the missions guide the what. The iteration is where risk is contained. The team has one goal, and that is to successfully iterate this one thing forward.
There is a concept called embarrassingly parallel. Rarely, if ever, does this happen within a well-framed project. Rarely is it possible for work outside of the iteration in focus to be both necessary, free from distracting the work to be done, and devoid of any potential hooks deeper in the work that impact the work to be done. Hourglass Architecture does not strictly forbid work inside the execution step from including objectives that are not directly related to the iteration. It does, however, caution against the distracting nature it may cause when intermixed, and the increased risk of too many unknowns trying to pass through the hourglass at the same time.
The neck of the hourglass is narrow by design, it conforms motion into purpose. By focusing on a single iteration, the work becomes crystal clear. The Team is collectively focused on delivering this iteration of value, and distractions are minimized. A well-organized iteration can move forward plenty of missions and provide plenty of value if it is planned well. Focus is safety. Focus is quality. Focus is speed. Focus is progress. Clogging the neck accomplishes none of those things.
Minute Glasses
Take a Minute
There is one such interruption to Execution that is absolutely critical to the success of execution. That interruption is to "Take a Minute". This is directly aligned with Toyota's Jidoka principle and the empowerment philosophy championed by Deming. Taking a Minute is a cognitive reset. It reevaluates what is being executed by performing a specific retracing of the Hourglass for the missions in question. This severely compressed form is called a Minute Glass.
Taking a Minute resides in a complicated area of execution between the cost of action or inaction potentially causing more harm than the other. Hourglass Architecture cannot solve for that moral dilemma or inform that choice. The architecture can reveal the decision, but it cannot make it.
During the Minute Glass, the outcome usually falls into one of three patterns. However, there may be any number more than these:
- Continue Forward: The Team has decided that continuing under the current plan produces the more desirable result.
- Correct In Place: The Team has decided that an immediate modification to the plan carries a lower risk than continuing with the planned work.
- Hold and Recover: The Team has decided that the planned work will not achieve the desired result.
This concept may appear a bit simple or plain without context. During all work, there will be times where the unknown unknowns change the situation or disasters of any kind alter the estimated path. Take a minute, evaluate the Minute Glass, and protect life above all else.
Execution is the motion that carries the mission toward Delivery and into Legacy. When the intervals have accumulated into meaningful change, the hourglass turns again, and the lessons of Execution become part of the institution’s memory. Significance is determined by the consequence of the work. When change accumulates without meaningful impact, people experience significance erosion — a psychological fatigue that comes from being asked to care about updates that do not materially alter their world. Execution protects significance by focusing each interval on work that is intentional, bounded, and real. When enough intervals have produced genuine consequence, that is when the hourglass turns.