NAVIGABILITY™

An evidence-based approach to assessing Execution Reliability.

Navigability™ is intended to help decision-makers examine the evidence supporting an execution system’s ability to execute a consequential commitment under current and changing conditions.

The execution system includes the people, teams, partners, decision-making and prioritisation processes, incentives, information and resources that must work together. Its boundaries depend on the commitment and may extend across organisations.

Execution Reliability is the broader discipline. Navigability is one proposed approach to assessing it.

EXPLORE EXECUTION RELIABILITY

Illustrative radar · provisional areas

The radar illustrates six provisional areas of investigation: Plan Quality, Capital Alignment, Commitment Integrity, Incremental Delivery, Learning Velocity and Track Record. It shows no actual assessment results or calibrated ratings.

Evidence-based

Examines observable evidence of how the execution system operates.

Forward-looking

Informs decisions before commitments and as execution progresses.

Decision support

Complements existing financial, strategic and operational assessments.

Built for uncertainty

Examines execution under current and changing conditions.

What evidence does it examine?

The focus is observable evidence of how the execution system operates as a whole. Sources may include historical execution patterns, operational records and structured assessments from people directly involved in the work. The six radar dimensions are provisional areas of investigation for Navigability. The five categories below are illustrative examples of observable behaviours and evidence that may inform an assessment, not a separate assessment framework.

Incremental execution: Evidence of usable outcomes and progress against the commitment.
Learning and responsiveness: How the system recognises problems, learns from setbacks and responds.
Coordination: How teams and partners manage interdependencies across organisational boundaries.
Decision-making and prioritisation: How decisions are made, resources allocated and competing priorities resolved.
Adaptability: How the system adjusts where changing conditions require it.

Findings may identify concerns without necessarily diagnosing their underlying causes. An assessment should make evidence, assumptions and uncertainties explicit; it does not guarantee successful execution.

Assess · Execution Reliability assessment

Explore an assessment with Navigability™

I welcome opportunities to examine actual commitments with leadership teams: review the available evidence, challenge assumptions and explore what would help inform a decision before a major commitment or as execution progresses.

These opportunities will help test and refine the approach against real decisions. Findings may inform whether to proceed, make approval conditional, strengthen the system, investigate concerns or test critical assumptions further.

DISCUSS AN ASSESSMENT

Why Navigability™?

After more than 30 years working at the intersection of technology, strategy, organisational design and execution, I became increasingly interested in the evidence supporting confidence in execution.

Due diligence, delivery confidence reviews and readiness assessments already examine aspects of execution. Navigability is intended to complement those practices by examining how the elements of the execution system work together, learn and respond as conditions change.

The question remains: which evidence genuinely helps decision-makers assess Execution Reliability?

Diego Groiso

30+ years in enterprise transformations
MBA, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
SAFe SPCT
100+ leaders and teams trained and coached