Patterns / 3. Working Within the System
Pattern 3.12
Below the Radar, Then Visible
Keep small, cheap work out of sight with a senior protector until it has proved itself, then make it visible on purpose once it needs funding or adoption beyond the team.
In This Context
Visible work attracts questions about its cost and ownership before it has anything to show. Early on, a small team can sometimes do more by staying out of sight, working outside normal processes with the quiet backing of a senior sponsor. That only lasts while the work is small and cheap. Once it needs a budget line, or needs people outside the team to adopt it, it has to be seen by the people who fund and use it, and the risk switches to staying hidden too long.
You can see this pattern when a promising piece of work has a protector but no budget, or when work that has proved itself is still being kept quiet.
- Visible proposals are challenged before they have results.
- Hidden work depends on one protector.
- Funding and adoption both require visibility.
Therefore
Decide deliberately which phase the work is in.
- Below the radar: keep it small and cheap, and make sure a senior sponsor knows and backs it.
- Visible: once it needs funding or adoption outside the team, show it to the people who fund and use it, starting with finance if the case is about money.
Consequently
- Small work can prove itself before it has to justify itself.
- When it surfaces, it arrives with results rather than promises.
- While hidden, it depends entirely on its protector, and can’t be funded or adopted at scale.
Seen In
Chapter 14, sidebar “War Story: The Curated Development Environment”, Chapter 15, sidebar “War Story: The Bench Project That Became an Asset”; both contrasted in Chapter 15, “Other Ways to Find Room” (“Visible or below the radar?”).