04 · Lift
Lift is sized to the gap.
When glide drifts past gravity, Lift is the response. It ranges from re-ordering a queue to rewriting the plan, and the state of the item decides which one applies.
Lift by state
Four kinds of Lift.
- DriftingLight LiftCourse correction
“We need small adjustments.”
- Re-prioritize within the queue
- Reduce work in progress and focus effort
- Remove small blockers
Local, tactical, low cost.
- Breaking OrbitModerate LiftRecovery actions
“We must actively intervene.”
- Add capacity: more engineers, more parallel work
- Re-sequence dependencies
- Fast-track critical work
Needs cross-team coordination and explicit trade-offs. Still salvageable within the current plan.
- Unstable OrbitDiagnostic LiftModel stabilization
“We cannot act until we fix the model.”
- Fix missing or incorrect dependencies
- Reconcile conflicting timelines
- Validate assumptions
Happens before execution. It restores trust in the system, which makes every other decision possible.
- Gravity WellStructural LiftEscape the well
“This cannot be fixed within the current system.”
- Re-baseline the timeline
- De-scope deliverables
- Redesign architecture or sequencing
- Change team structure
Strategic. Requires a leadership decision. Optimization can't solve it.
Match Lift to cause
The color says how bad. The drag says why.
Two Red items can need opposite responses. One team is short of people; another is drowning in scope. Before choosing a Lift, name the drag source behind the drift.
Adding capacity fixes thrust loss. It makes scope growth and coordination load worse.
Governance
Lift is mandatory, not optional.
- Alerting. Divergence surfaces automatically, not in a status meeting. Executives see Amber, Red and Black only.
- Action plans. Amber and Red require a written Lift plan.
- Delegation. Every Lift action becomes an assigned task on the board.
- Structural reset. Black triggers a formal re-baseline of the gravity itself.
Feedback
Track whether the Lift worked.
Drift trend shows whether a Lift is working within a week or two. If an item stays Amber or Red with a level or falling trend after its Lift, the next divergence on that work starts one tier higher. Over time, the record of which Lifts worked improves the glide forecast itself.
| After Lift | Reading | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Drifting ▲ | Lift is working | Keep it in place |
| Drifting ▼ | Light Lift is not enough | Treat as Red and apply moderate Lift |
| Breaking Orbit ▶ | Moderate Lift has stalled | Run the recovery test |
| Gravity Well | Recovery test failed | Leadership decision in the next Uplink |