There’s a saying: “If it isn’t official, it hasn’t happened”.
RAG reports spring to mind. I’ve seen too many RAG reports that have not reflected reality to respect them as a means to report status. Usually, a project stays green until almost the end at which point it goes amber and then red very quickly. I’ve seen it stay red until someone eventually removes the project from the report.
John Gall talks of the Fundamental Law of Administrative Workings (FLAW) where things are what they are reported to be, regardless of the true state of affairs. That is to say, within an organization people believe the system’s distorted and censored version of reality to be reality. This gives people the illusion of power, control and effectiveness.
If there was a Coefficient of Fiction that varied from full awareness of reality (0) to absolutely no awareness of reality (1), the Coefficient of Fiction for RAG reports would be high. Don’t believe what you read. Go see for yourself before making decisions.
Recommend reading from John Gall:
