2 min lesson

Dependencies, migrations & sequencing

Use "The JD lists migrations alongside cost and capacity as programs you'll drive" to say what you would do next.

Migrations are where TPMs earn or lose trust with infra leaders and they show up directly in this charter - the JD lists migrations alongside cost and capacity as programs you'll drive. The interviewer wants to see that you sequence to shrink blast radiusHow much breaks if a change goes wrong; the scope of potential damage. Press Enter for the full definition., not just to finish fast.

Start with the dependency map. A plan that lists ten tasks with ten dates hides the one fact that matters: which chain of work, end to end, is the longest. That chain is the critical pathThe longest end-to-end chain of dependent work in a plan; it sets the realistic timeline no matter how parallel everything else looks. A slip on the critical path moves the date; a slip on a task with slack does not. Press Enter for the full definition. and it sets the realistic timeline no matter how parallel everything else looks.

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Advanced table

Critical path here is 5 weeks (telemetry → model → validation → pilot)

Step: Instrument cost telemetry
Depends on: -
Duration: 1 week
On critical path?: Yes - nothing downstream starts without it

Step: Build the attribution model
Depends on: telemetry
Duration: 2 weeks
On critical path?: Yes

Step: Validate model vs. Finance ledger
Depends on: model
Duration: 1 week
On critical path?: Yes

Step: Design the dashboard
Depends on: (parallel) telemetry
Duration: 1 week
On critical path?: No - slack available

Step: Pilot showback with one team
Depends on: validated model
Duration: 1 week
On critical path?: Yes

Step	Depends on	Duration	On critical path?
Instrument cost telemetry	-	1 week	Yes - nothing downstream starts without it
Build the attribution model	telemetry	2 weeks	Yes
Validate model vs. Finance ledger	model	1 week	Yes
Design the dashboard	(parallel) telemetry	1 week	No - slack available
Pilot showback with one team	validated model	1 week	Yes

Critical path here is 5 weeks (telemetry → model → validation → pilot). The dashboard runs in parallel and has slack, so a slip there doesn't move the date - a slip in validation does.

Watch out

Padding every task equally is amateur scheduling. Buffer belongs on the critical pathThe longest end-to-end chain of dependent work in a plan; it sets the realistic timeline no matter how parallel everything else looks. A slip on the critical path moves the date; a slip on a task with slack does not. Press Enter for the full definition. and at cross-team handoffs, not sprinkled uniformly. A week of slack on the parallel dashboard task buys you nothing; a week of buffer before the Finance validation handoff buys you the whole program's safety margin.

Dependencies, migrations & sequencing

Step 1 of 4

Critical path here is 5 weeks (telemetry → model → validation → pilot)