1 min lesson
Make green/yellow/red mean something
Consider this situation. "Mid-program, a risk is now likely to hit the date. Mitigation is underway and no decision is needed yet. Using the status rubric, which color is the program and why?" Start with the decision, then the evidence.
Step 1 of 2
Make green/yellow/red mean somethingstatus without theater
Status colors rot into theater when nobody defines them, so everything stays green until it abruptly turns red. Define the thresholds up front, in the doc, so the color is a fact rather than a mood.
- Green
- On track to hit the goal and the date with current plan and owners; no decision needed
- Yellow
- A risk is now likely to hit the date or metric; mitigation underway, may need a decision soon
- Red
- Will miss the goal or date without an intervention this week; a specific decision is required now
Yellow is the most valuable color. A program that goes green-to-red with no yellow in between has a broken cadence.
Watermelon status, green on the outside and red on the inside, is the classic failure of a flat, optimistic org. People keep reporting green because nobody wants to be the bearer of the slip. You fix it by making yellow safe and expected and by defining red as "a decision is required," which reframes escalation as helping the decision-maker rather than admitting failure.