Peter Maddison, Author at Xodiac | Business Transformation Consultancy

When delivery expenses go through the roof

When your organization’s delivery costs keep climbing, it’s rarely just a budget management issue—it’s a systemic problem that silently erodes performance. From excessive coordination overhead to the paralyzing expense of changing direction, high delivery costs can cripple your ability to adapt. In this article, we explore how the pursuit of adaptability paradoxically increases costs, why seemingly busy teams produce diminishing returns, and the strategic roots of this pervasive challenge facing modern organizations.

The Problem with Too Much Work in Progress

Struggling with too many initiatives but making little progress? Discover the telltale signs of excessive work in progress (WIP) and learn how proper project portfolio management can help your organization prioritize effectively, reduce workload, and deliver meaningful results. Stop the cycle of overcommitment and start making strategic progress

Spinning Wheels: How Inefficient Structures Are Holding Back Your Success

In today’s fast-paced business environment, countless organizations experience a familiar frustration—despite endless activity, progress remains painfully slow. This post explores how hidden flaws in organizational design silently drain potential through unclear value streams, cognitive overload, and problematic team structures. Learn to recognize when your organization’s structure has become the spinning wheels keeping you stuck rather than the engine driving you forward.

Contingency Planning: How to Navigate and Mitigate Risks

Effective product delivery is a constant challenge in today’s dynamic business world. Whether embracing agile methodologies, implementing DevOps practices, or following traditional project management approaches, one common thread runs through them all: the need to manage risk.

Watermelon Metrics: Green on the Outside, Red on the Inside

This blog explores the concept of “watermelon metrics” in business, where surface-level positive metrics mask underlying issues and inefficiencies. It discusses the causes, such as measuring the wrong things, lack of psychological safety, and misalignment of goals. It also provides strategies for detecting and resolving these misleading metrics, emphasizing the importance of transparency, accurate data, and actionable metrics.

Rescuing a Project When It’s Gone Off Track – The Why’s and How’s

This blog explores the high failure rates of digital transformation programs, identifying common causes such as unclear objectives, inadequate planning, resource constraints, and ineffective communication. It provides a high-level approach to recovering derailed projects, emphasizing the importance of assessment, realignment of objectives, revising plans, finding the correct solutions, and enhancing communication.