How It Works
The Delivery Intelligence Protocol
A structured professional reasoning process that converts project evidence, assumptions and dependencies into a defensible executive delivery position — supporting the governance decisions your institution already makes.
The protocol formalises the reasoning used by experienced delivery professionals — not as a replacement for their judgement, but as a consistent institutional method for applying it. Each conclusion is traceable to its underlying evidence, so it can be discussed, challenged and relied upon within established governance processes.
The Delivery Intelligence Protocol
Assemble evidence
Identify the available evidence — reports, programmes, contracts, cost information, approvals, decisions and supporting records — and establish what is known, what is reported and what remains uncertain. DI works with the information your project teams already produce.
Establish the reported position
Document the reported delivery position as stated in the available evidence — the programme, cost, commercial, approval and governance position as it is currently understood. This becomes the baseline for testing.
Test the evidence
Assess evidence for source, recency, consistency, reliability and relevance. Identify evidence gaps, unsupported assumptions and conditions where the reported position is not adequately supported by the underlying evidence.
Identify controlling assumptions and dependencies
Map the dependencies between programme, procurement, design, approvals, construction, finance and governance — identifying the assumptions and conditions most likely to influence the outcome if they are not resolved.
Assess controls
Evaluate whether the controls in place — governance, commercial, programme, procurement and approval controls — are adequate for the conditions identified. Where they are not, define what is required.
Establish delivery confidence
Produce a structured, evidence-supported assessment of overall delivery confidence. This is a professional judgement — not an unexplained mathematical probability — supported by the evidence, assumptions, dependencies and control conditions.
Define the governance response
Identify decision points, response options, evidence requirements and escalation considerations — supporting the governance process with traceable reasoning, connected evidence and continuity between reporting cycles.
Transparency
Reasoning that remains visible
Every Delivery Intelligence conclusion shows the evidence considered, the assumptions relied upon and the reasoning applied. This means the position can be reviewed, challenged and refined — preserving institutional judgement rather than concealing it behind an unexplained output.
What was considered
The evidence, project records and information reviewed in forming the position.
What was assumed
The assumptions relied upon — and the conditions under which they hold.
How it was reached
The reasoning connecting evidence, assumptions and conditions to the conclusion.
The Output
An executive delivery position in five parts
The reported position
What the project currently states about its programme, cost, commercial and approval position.
Evidence supporting it
The evidence that stands behind that position — and where it is partial or absent.
Material assumptions
The unresolved assumptions and conditions on which the position currently depends.
Delivery confidence
A structured judgement, explained by the evidence and assumptions that support it.
Governance response
The decision points, evidence requirements and options for the institution to consider.
An Example
How one condition affects the entire delivery position
See the protocol applied to your project context
We'll walk through how DI would reason through the evidence, conditions and dependencies shaping your delivery outcomes — preserving institutional judgement at every step.
Discuss a Project